UP banker shoots wife dead over 'betrayal'; kills sister, ends life

A State Bank of India employee, Manas Vajpeyi, allegedly shot his wife, Divya Mishra, outside an ICICI Bank branch in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.

Manas then went to his home, where he allegedly shot his sister, Sheeba Vajpeyi, before turning the weapon on himself.

Before the suicide, Manas posted a WhatsApp status alleging his wife had 'betrayed' him, indicating marital discord as a motive.

Divya Mishra was the sister of journalist and YouTuber Pragya Mishra, who confirmed the incident on social media and alleged her sister had been living separately due to her husband's 'psychotic behaviour'.

Police recovered three pistols and are investigating the incident, with preliminary findings suggesting a family dispute led to the killings.

 

A bank employee allegedly shot dead his wife and his sister before shooting himself in the Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow around 12.15 pm on Thursday, police said.

In a WhatsApp status posted before killing himself, accused Manas Vajpeyi alleged that he killed his wife because she had 'betrayed' him.

The incident occurred outside an ICICI Bank branch in Gomti Nagar, where the woman, identified as Divya Mishra (37), worked as a relationship manager.

According to police, her husband, Manas -- a field officer with the State Bank of India -- allegedly called her and shot her before fleeing the scene.

Police said the accused was reportedly experiencing marital discord with Divya.

ADCP (East) Amol Murkut, who reached the spot after the incident, said the woman had worked there for the past three or four years.

"The deceased woman's co-workers at the bank identified the attacker as her husband," he said.

Police said Manas then went to his house in Husaria, about two kilometres from the crime spot, where he allegedly shot his sister, Sheeba Vajpeyi, before turning the weapon on himself.

Luvkush, who runs a restaurant rented on the premises where Manas lived, told IWP that he saw him rushing into the residence, profusely sweating, apparently after the shooting occurred near the bank.

"I even asked him, 'bhaiya, what's the matter? You appear stressed.' But he told me that it was nothing, just some office issues. Then he went inside," the restaurant owner said.

Family's Reaction and Police Investigation : People working at the restaurant said after entering the house, he locked the door.

"Then he played the Hanuman Chalisa at a high volume on the television. We could hear it. When the door was opened after the incident, the Hanuman Chalisa was still playing loudly," they said.

Pragya Mishra, a journalist and YouTuber, also posted on social media that the ICICI Bank employee who was shot was her sister.

'I just came to know that my sister has been shot at in Gomtinagar... May God save her,' she said in a post tagging the Lucknow police commissionerate and the Uttar Pradesh director general of police. Pragya runs a YouTube channel, Ulta Chasma UC, which has around 8.5 million subscribers.

She is also active on X and runs other digital platforms, including Pragya Ka Panna. Her YouTube channel focuses largely on politics, social issues, and current affairs.

Lucknow Commissioner of Police Tarun Gauba also reached the crime scene and took stock of the situation.

Police said the investigation was underway and forensic teams were examining evidence from the spots linked to the shootings.

The Police Commissioner said the exact sequence of events thereafter was not immediately clear.

"Police reached the spot and recovered three pistols," he said.

"A preliminary investigation suggested that a family dispute led to the killings, and further investigation was underway," he said.

Motive and Background : Police said Manas returned home within minutes of shooting his wife, later posted a WhatsApp status, and then shot his sister and himself.

Manas wrote that he intended to kill himself and his sister, and alleged that Divya's sister, Pragya, and her husband Bharat Yadav knew everything about the matter.

Neighbours, who heard two gunshots, reached the house and broke open the door, where they found the bodies.

Police said they sent the bodies of all three victims for a post-mortem examination and were recording statements from relatives of both sides as part of the investigation.

Family members told police that Manas's sister had been suffering from depression for around three years and was undergoing treatment.

Neighbours told IWP that Manas had married around 12 years ago.

They said his father had died of a heart attack, while his mother passed away around six years ago. Neighbours described Manas as a serious but helpful person who was particularly attached to his sister.

Pragya alleged in a post on X that Divya had been living separately from her husband because of his 'psychotic behaviour'.

She said he allegedly used two guns to commit the crime.

She said Divya went to work as usual and left the ICICI Bank branch with a colleague to collect a cheque when her husband allegedly followed her in an auto-rickshaw.

According to Pragya, the accused first fired at Divya outside the bank, attacked her with the butt of the gun and then fired again with a second weapon.

Mourning her sister's death, Pragya wrote that she was unable to come to terms with the loss and said, 'Divya, it is difficult to believe that you are no more.'