LUCKNOW: A Lucknow bank employee who allegedly shot dead his estranged wife outside her workplace had subjected her to repeated physical and emotional abuse, her sister and journalist Pragya Mishra alleged, saying he would even beat her over a rotten tomato ordered online.Divya Mishra, 33, was shot dead outside a private bank branch near Manoj Pandey Crossing in Gomti Nagar on Thursday afternoon. Her husband, Manas Bajpai, 37, allegedly returned to his home after the killing, shot his younger sister Sheeba, 31, and then died by suicide, police said.Pragya, in a post on X, alleged that Divya had been living separately from Manas because of marital discord and had decided to seek a divorce.“My sister had told me that her husband was a psycho. But I had no idea it was this big,” Pragya wrote.She alleged that Manas would assault Divya over trivial issues. “If a tomato from the ones ordered on quick-commerce app turned out bad, he would beat her, saying, ‘How did you order on quick-commerce app turned out bad?’” she wrote, attributing the account to Divya.According to Pragya, Divya had also told her about a confrontation with a counsellor during proceedings at the family court. She alleged that Manas had made a list of household expenses on their wedding night and insisted that the couple share half the expenses, a condition Divya had initially accepted.Police said the couple had been married for around 10 years but had been living separately for about three years. They had no children. Lucknow police commissioner Tarun Gauba said Divya had filed a divorce petition in family court last year and had sought compensation as well as the return of dowry articles.“After talking to multiple family members we have learnt that the couple had been living separately,” Gauba said.Pragya further alleged that Manas had stalked Divya before the shooting. She said her sister had recently met with an accident amid stress and had suffered fractures to her hand and leg. Although she had resumed going to work after about two months, she was still walking with a limp.She alleged that CCTV footage showed Divya leaving her home, followed by footage of her confronting Manas outside the bank while limping.Pragya also questioned how Manas obtained the firearms used in the killings. Police have recovered three weapons from his house near Husadiya Crossing — two pistols and a country-made .32-bore firearm — and are investigating their source.According to police, forensic examination found that Divya was shot in the occipital region of the head, while Sheeba and Manas suffered gunshot injuries near their right earlobes. Investigators are conducting ballistic tests to establish which weapon was used in each shooting and are examining Manas’s contacts, movements and communications to determine how he acquired the firearms.Pragya also alleged that Manas arrived at the bank in an autorickshaw and fled in one after the shooting, raising questions about whether someone else was involved. Police have not publicly confirmed this allegation.The killings allegedly took place within around 30 minutes. Police said Manas reached the bank around 12.15pm, where he had a brief argument with Divya before allegedly shooting her. He then returned home, killed his sister and died by suicide.A WhatsApp status purportedly posted by Manas after the first killing said he had killed his wife because she had “cheated” on him and that he would then kill himself and his sister. Police are examining the status as part of the investigation.Pragya said Divya had continued to hope that her marriage could be saved despite the alleged abuse. She was even planning to observe the Teej fast and had not removed Manas’s name tattooed on her hand, she said.“She wanted everything to be okay. She wanted the psycho to change,” Pragya wrote.She also described the difficulty of breaking the news of Divya’s death to their mother, saying she initially told her that Divya was in critical condition and was being kept asleep.Police are continuing to investigate the murder-suicide, including the marital dispute, the source of the firearms, CCTV footage and the accused’s movements before and after the shootings.
