Sharpshooter’s murder: Three youths held

Lucknow: A day after the sensational daylight murder of Shoaib Kidwai alias Bobby (52), an alleged sharpshooter linked to late gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, Barabanki police on Saturday picked up three youths from Lucknow for questioning and claimed that two men wearing helmets on a motorcycle conducted a recce of Kidwai's route before the attack.Police sources said the trio was detained from different locations in Lucknow late Friday and is being questioned about possible logistical support to the assailants. Officials indicated that CCTV footage suggested two unidentified men wearing helmets were seen trailing Kidwai's movements shortly after he left Lucknow. Kidwai was gunned down between 1 pm and 1:30 pm on Friday on the Lucknow–Ayodhya highway. He was driving his Maruti Baleno from Lucknow to Barabanki when motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire. The attackers allegedly waited for him to slow down on the service lane before pulling alongside his vehicle and launching a coordinated assault.
Kidwai was shot dead after assailants opened indiscriminate fire at his car on the service lane near Aseni along the Ayodhya highway. Police said there were no functional cameras installed at the exact spot of the attack. CCTV cameras at a nearby Nayara petrol pump facing the highway were found to be non-functional. Footage from other establishments, including Sainik Dhaba and Kalika Haveli, did not clearly capture the highway movement. However, blurred CCTV footage from nearby cameras reportedly showed two helmeted youths riding a motorcycle passing close to Kidwai's Baleno car around the time of the incident. Police are now attempting to trace the motorcycle's registration number to identify the suspects. Barabanki superintendent of police Arpit Vijayvargiya constituted five teams to investigate the case from multiple angles. Apart from examining CCTV footage, police are also probing Kidwai's past disputes, including possible property-related conflicts. Investigators suspect that the murder may have stemmed from a deep-seated rivalry. Police also widened the scope of questioning to include Kidwai's driver and personal security aide. According to police sources, when Kidwai travelled from his Lucknow residence to Barabanki, he was usually accompanied by both individuals. On the day of the murder, however, Kidwai was found alone in the driver's seat of his car, riddled with bullets. During questioning, the driver reportedly cited illness and fever as the reason for not accompanying him. A similar explanation was given by the security aide. Finding their sudden absence suspicious, police detained the two for detailed interrogation. Two other persons were also taken into custody for questioning. Investigators are examining how a person who had multiple disputes and perceived security risks chose to travel alone, and whether someone withdrew support at the last moment. Following the post-mortem conducted Friday night, the body was handed over to the family and kept at his residence in the Civil Lines area. The family waited for Kidwai's elder brother to arrive from London. After his arrival around 4 pm on Saturday, the body was taken to their ancestral village Gadia, where last rites were performed amid heavy police deployment. Personnel from multiple police stations were stationed to maintain law and order during the funeral. Additional SP (North) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said the investigation teams are examining all possible angles.