Bank clerk kills banker wife and sister and shoots himself

Lucknow: In a sensational double murder and suicide, an SBI clerk allegedly shot dead his estranged wife outside her workplace in Gomti Nagar on Thursday, returned home, killed his younger sister and then himself, police said.Police are probing the deaths and a WhatsApp status purportedly posted by the accused moments after the first murder.Around 12.15pm, Manas Bajpayi, 37, reached the ICICI Bank branch near Manoj Pandey Crossing, where his wife Divya Mishra, 33, worked as a relationship manager. The couple had a brief argument outside the bank after which Manas pulled out a pistol and shot her dead.Manas then returned to his residence near Husadiya Crossing, around 3km from the bank, where he allegedly shot dead his sister, Sheeba, 31, before turning the gun on himself. The murder-suicide were executed within 30 minutes, police said.After killing Divya, Manas allegedly posted a WhatsApp status claiming responsibility for her death: “Today I killed my wife as she cheated on me...now I have to kill myself and my sister....”Police said the couple got married 10 years ago but had been living separately for past three years. Divya had filed for divorce last year. They had no children.DCP (East) Deeksha Sharma said Divya’s colleagues identified the attacker as her husband.Divya’s sister Pragya Mishra, a journalist and YouTuber, posted on social media “I just came to know that my sister has been shot in Gomtinagar. She is in Lohia. May God save her,” tagging the Lucknow police commissionerate and UP DGP.Manas’s tenant Luv Kush, who runs a fast food shop on the premises (Manas’s house), told reporters that he saw him rushing into the residence, profusely sweating. “I even asked him what was the matter since he appeared stressed. But he told me that it was nothing, just some office issue. Then he went inside,” Luv Kush said.Police are examining CCTV footage around the bank, call records and other digital evidence to establish Manas’s movements between the bank and his home.Neighbours said Manas parents had passed away. According to neighbours, Manas killed his sister as she was mentally unstable. “He might have thought that after his death there would be no one to take care of her and so killed her,” said Luv Kush.