LOUNGE ‘MURDER’: OWNER GOES MISSING WITH DVR

LUCKNOW: Manager of a Qaiserbagh-based lounge died under mysterious circumstances after falling from the sixth floor of Classic Apartments building here on Wednesday late night.

Police suspect Prashant Pandey was kidnapped and murdered allegedly by lounge owner Saif and his aides.

While Saif is missing after the incident, police have been quizzing his aides and relatives to know his whereabouts.

“Prashant worked as the manager at the Godfather lounge on the ground floor of Classic Apartments while the owner Saif stays in one of the flats in the same building,” said police.

Victim’s brother, Pankaj Pandey, told police that Prashant returned to his house near Meena Bakery crossing in Rajajipuram at around 6.30 pm on Wednesday. However, Saif, along with some of his aides, too reached the house within 15 minutes after his arrival and took him along forcibly.

He said Saif and his aides had beaten up Prashant before taking him along. They also misbehaved with his family members.

Pankaj approached the Talkatora police station when his brother did not return after two hours and lodged an FIR against Saif and other unidentified persons under IPC sections 364 (kidnapping) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt).

“While we were trying to contact Saif and Prashant over phone Qaiserbagh police informed us that he (Prashant) is admitted at the trauma centre of King George Medical University (KGMU) in critical condition. Prashant was lying dead on the

stretcher when I and my family members reached the trauma centre,” he stated while narrating the sequence of incident.

Pankaj said the police informed him that Prashant had died after falling from the sixth floor of the building.

He said the circumstances and the sequence of incidents clearly indicated that Saif and his aides murdered his brother by pushing him from the sixth floor after kidnapping him from home.

Additional superintendent of police (ASP), West, Vikas Chandra Tripathi too confirmed that the initial probe hinted towards murder.

He said Saif and his family members are missing and the flat in which they reside is locked.

The ASP said Saif was a prime suspect as he also took along the digital video recorder (DVR) in which the video footage of CCTV cameras installed in the building would have been recorded.

He said some of his aides, including the owner’s maternal uncle Shakeel Qureshi, has been taken into custody for further interrogation.