LUCKNOW: Puja Shakun Pandey, an office-bearer of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) and the main accused in the murder of a businessman in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh on September 26, was arrested from Bharatpur in Rajasthan on Saturday.
Abhishek Gupta, a 25-year-old two-wheeler showroom owner, was gunned down by two assailants in Aligarh’s Roravar area while he was boarding a bus to Hathras. Puja Shakun Pandey and her husband, ABHM spokesperson Ashok Pandey, allegedly hired the two shooters — Mohd Fazal and Asif — to kill Gupta.
A case against Puja and her husband was registered the same night at the Roravar police station.
According to Aligarh Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, Puja was arrested from Bharatpur late Friday night. “Abhishek’s family claimed she had been sexually harassing him over a period of time and allegedly planned his murder after he broke all ties with her,” said the SSP.
However, police sources also indicated that a business deal gone sour between Puja and Abhishek might have led to the murder.
Ashok Pandey and the two shooters are already in jail, according to police sources.
Aligarh Superintendent of Police (City) Mrigank Shekhar Pathak said last week that Mohd Fazal had been arrested in connection with the case, and the main shooter, Asif, was apprehended on October 3 near the Delhi-Kanpur highway at Shah Kutubpur. Pathak added that Asif carried a reward of Rs 25,000 and was wanted in other criminal cases as well.
Puja Shakun Pandey, also known as Annapurna Maa, who holds the religious title of Mahamandleshwar, had been absconding since the night of the murder and carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on her arrest.
Puja had previously made headlines for publicly praising Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.
Following her capture, she was brought to Aligarh for interrogation.
Police sources revealed that both shooters had known Puja and her husband for 7–8 years and had undertaken welding work at their house about a month ago. During this time, the couple allegedly offered them money to eliminate Abhishek Gupta.
Initially, the shooters demanded Rs 5 lakh, but the deal was finalized at Rs 3 lakh, of which Rs 1 lakh was already paid, SP Pathak said. The Pandeys had also provided the killers with Gupta’s photo prior to the murder.
Call records cited by police show that Ashok Pandey contacted Fazal 27 times between August and September and spoke to his absconding wife 11 times during the same period.
Abhishek Gupta was with his father when two bike-borne assailants shot him in Roravar. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries later that night.
Gupta’s father named Puja Shakun Pandey and Ashok Pandey in his complaint, stating that relations between the couple and his son had been strained.
