The auto-rickshaw driver, who ended up driving SBI field officer Manas Bajpai away from the crime scene after he shot his wife Divya Mishra dead outside an ICICI Bank branch in Gomti Nagar on Thursday afternoon, was no stranger to him.
Police officers questioning him told HT the driver had known Manas for some time. They said he had been hired by him earlier and was often called to drive him to office despite Manas owning a Bullet motorcycle.
The details emerged during hours of questioning of the driver by the police, giving investigators a clearer picture of why Manas chose the same auto-rickshaw on the day of the shooting. “The driver used to sleep on the pavement outside or near Manas’s house, making the two familiar with each other. Divya collapsed after being hit by the bullet.
Manas booked the auto-rickshaw operated by the driver, Pramod Kumar, 40, just a day before the incident and allegedly asked him to remain available for two or three days, according to police. The driver had earlier ferried Manas on several occasions and was therefore not a person who had been randomly hired for the day,” said a police official wishing not to be named.
Manas was not particularly comfortable driving himself, according to the auto driver’s statement to police. Despite owning a Bullet motorcycle, he would often hire the same auto driver for trips to his office, investigators said. The auto driver told police that he was not involved in any recce and had come only on the morning of the incident after being asked to report around 11am. “We are also verifying his statement from the technical point of view,” the police official added. The driver told police he had no idea that the woman was Manas’s wife. He said Manas stopped and assaulted her and that, before he could understand what was happening, Manas allegedly shot her.
Investigators are also examining the sequence of Manas’s movements before the shooting. Manas’s maternal uncle Awdhesh Shukla, a retired sales tax official, told HT at the cremation ground on Friday that Manas was not a good driver and often preferred other modes of transport.
