Lucknow: Police probe in the double murder-suicide has revealed that Rs 1.5 crore financial settlement sought by Divya Mishra in her divorce could have been the likely motive behind her murder by her banker husband Manas Bajpayi on Thursday.Police are also examining strained relations between the couple over Manas’s younger sister Sheeba, 28, with whom Divya reportedly did not want to live.Police have based their premise on the divorce case hearing in a family court on Aug 18 where the demand of Rs 1.5 crore alimony came up. According to preliminary probe, Manas got distressed after the court hearing and subsequently began preparing for the attack.Mans and Divya had a clove marriage in 2017 but had been living separately since Nov last year after years of marital discord. Divya had filed for divorce in Jan this year. The couple had no children.Police, however, have not officially concluded that Rs 1.5-crore demand alone was the motive. The financial dispute is being examined alongside the couple’s troubled relationship, allegations of domestic discord and the disagreement over Sheeba.Manas, a bank clerk, shot dead Divya, a relationship manager with a private bank, outside her workplace in Gomti Nagar on Thursday afternoon. He then went to his residence near Husadiya Crossing where he shot dead Sheeba and turned the gun on himself.After reaching home, Manas allegedly locked himself inside the room and switched on the TV at high volume. Police suspect the loud audio may have been intended to mask the sound of gunfire.After killing Divya and before taking his own life, Manas posted a WhatsApp status claiming that he had killed his wife because she had betrayed him.The message also reportedly stated that he intended to kill himself and his sister and named Divya’s sister, YouTuber Pragya Mishra, and her husband, Bharat. Divya’s cousin Mayank Dixit has denied that Pragya and Bharat had any knowledge of the matters referred to in the message.Police are examining the WhatsApp status, digital records and other electronic evidence to determine whether the allegations made by Manas had any factual basis.According to relatives, initially their relationship was initially stable, but disputes gradually emerged over domestic and family matters and Divya left home. When Manas’s mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, Divya again came back to live with him. Disagreements over Sheeba subsequently intensified.After the death of Manas’s mother in 2019, Divya again moved away. The couple later reconciled but their relationship deteriorated again over the following years.With the recovery of three firearms, CCTV footage showing the attack and the reported two-day surveillance of Divya, police are examining the case as a pre-planned sequence of killings.Police are questioning family members, bank employees, security guards and neighbours and analysing CCTV and digital evidence to establish the precise chain of events and determine what ultimately triggered the killings.
