4 years on, man who shot dead Dr Bansal arrested

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Monday arrested Mohammad Shoaib, accused of shooting dead Dr AK Bansal, leading surgeon and owner of Prayagraj-based Jeevan Jyoti Hospital, in 2017.

The accused was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, said additional director general (ADG) STF Amitabh Yash.

“Shoaib was part of a gang that was involved in a series of violent crime incidents that took place between 2015 and 2017. In January 2017, Shoaib with another accused had entered Jeevan Jyoti hospital and shot dead Dr Ashwini Kumar Bansal in his chamber. The accused were promised Rs 15 lakh for the murder. Shoaib fled to Mumbai after the incident and was living in hiding since then,” claimed the STF ADG.

The other accused, Yasir, who opened fire on the doctor, was killed a few months after the incident by Shoaib and other members of the gang following a dispute over money.

A case regarding the murder of the doctor was lodged at Kydganj police station of Prayagraj. A team of STF which was tracking the case came to know about presence of Shoaib in Lucknow and managed to arrest him from Chinhat area.

“Shoaib has confessed to his crime. He said the plan for the murder of Dr Bansal was hatched in jail by one Alok Sinha who was accused of fraud by the doctor. The gang members present inside the jail planned the murder which was executed by Shoaib and his gang members,” said the officer.

Members of the gang, of which Shoaib is a part, call it a ‘fracture gang’ which was involved in extortion using the fear of violence.