Forensic ballistics experts and homicide detectives from the Lucknow Police Commissionerate are piecing together the technical mechanics of the double murder-suicide that left three dead across Gomti Nagar. Senior officers, led by Police Commissioner Tarun Gauba, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) Bablu Kumar, and Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Dr. Deeksha Sharma, are analyzing three illegal firearms recovered from the secondary crime scene near Husadiya Crossing.

The arsenal—comprising two factory-made pistols and a country-made .32-bore handgun—is undergoing ballistic matching at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to establish which specific weapon fired the fatal rounds at each location.

The preliminary post-mortem findings provided by the FSL outline a definitive timeline of bullet trajectories and physical trauma. Divya Mishra, a 33-year-old Deputy Manager and Relationship Manager at ICICI Bank, sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the occipital area at the back of her skull, alongside facial fractures inflicted by heavy strikes from a firearm butt. At the Husadiya flat, 31-year-old Sheeba Bajpai suffered a single close-range gunshot through the right side of her earlobe, while her 37-year-old brother, Manas Bajpai—an Assistant Manager with the State Bank of India (SBI)—died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound through the same entry point.

Investigators are focusing on how Manas Bajpai acquired three illegal firearms and tracked his wife's movements. Because Bajpai was unable to drive a four-wheeled vehicle, police are relying on CCTV footage to trace the autorickshaw driver who transported him during his morning surveillance and his retreat from the primary crime scene. Detectives are stitching together three primary video recordings: footage of Divya leaving her parental residence in Alambagh, security video recording the violent encounter outside the ICICI Bank branch, and neighborhood footage capturing Bajpai's arrival at his Husadiya apartment.

The Mortuary Vigil and Public Disclosure

Hours before forensic teams finalized their initial reports, the human cost of the violence centered on the mortuary at Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences. Late on the night of Thursday, August 20, journalist and social media commentator Pragya Mishra sat beside her mother, withholding the truth about her younger sister's death. Divya’s body remained in a mortuary freezer as procedural delays postponed the official autopsy to the following morning. Accompanied by her cousin Mayank Dixit at the mortuary, Pragya tried to maintain composure for her grieving mother.

In a series of posts on social media platform X, Pragya documented the emotional toll on her family, writing about her inability to tell her mother that Divya was dead:

"Divya’s post-mortem couldn’t be done today; the appointment is set for 9–10 AM tomorrow… I still haven’t been able to muster the courage to tell Mom… I’ve made her lie down next to me by telling her the lie that Divya is in critical condition… For the first time, I realise just how hard it is to speak the truth… She is in the freezer at the post-mortem house… I couldn’t bring myself to say that…”

Pragya's public statements also detailed long-standing domestic abuse, challenging the narrative left behind by the killer. She disputed assertions made in Bajpai's final digital messages, outlining a years-long history of cruelty, violent outbursts, and institutional failure that preceded the shootings.

The Husadiya Siege: Confessions and High-Volume Chants

The mortuary vigil followed a sequence of events that unfolded earlier that afternoon in a rented apartment near Husadiya Crossing, roughly two and a half kilometers from the bank. At approximately 12:30 PM, Manas Bajpai returned to the residence he shared with his younger sister, Sheeba, who had been living with severe mental illness for three years. Lavkush, a tenant who operated a fast-food restaurant on the ground floor of the building, observed Bajpai rushing upstairs, sweating profusely and exhibiting signs of severe distress. When asked if he was alright, Bajpai dismissed the inquiry, claiming he was dealing with routine "office issues," before locking the apartment door behind him.

Once inside, Bajpai uploaded a status update to his WhatsApp account, writing in English:

"Today I killed my wife as she cheated on me... now i have to kill myself and my sister... her sister pragya and bharat nows everything"

The status explicitly named Pragya Mishra and her husband, Bharat Yadav, claiming they were aware of his wife's alleged betrayal. Family members and investigators later clarified that these allegations of infidelity were manufactured by Bajpai to rationalize his actions, noting that Pragya and Bharat were only aware of his history of domestic abuse.

After posting the message, Bajpai turned on the television inside the apartment, setting a broadcast of the Hanuman Chalisa to maximum volume. Under cover of the loud religious recitation, he shot his sister, Sheeba, near her right ear. Neighbors later recalled that Bajpai had expressed anxiety over who would care for his specially-abled sister after his death, as both of their parents were deceased. Moments after killing his sister, Bajpai turned the weapon on himself.

At approximately 12:45 PM, a neighbor, Ankur Prakash, saw the WhatsApp status and rushed to the apartment. Finding the door locked and hearing the Hanuman Chalisa playing inside, Prakash and local shopkeepers forced the entrance open. Inside, they found Bajpai and Sheeba unresponsive on the floor while the television continued to play. Police received the distress call shortly after 1:30 PM, arriving to secure the scene and recover three unlicensed firearms.

The Public Execution Outside ICICI Bank

The tragedy at Husadiya was the second phase of an attack that began twenty minutes earlier in Gomti Nagar's commercial sector. At 12:05 PM, Divya Mishra arrived at the ICICI Bank branch in Vivek Khand, where she worked as an Assistant Manager and Relationship Manager. Returning from an off-site assignment alongside a colleague to collect a cheque, she parked her car in the service lane directly outside the building.

Bajpai was waiting nearby in an autorickshaw. As Divya stepped out of her vehicle, Bajpai approached and signaled for her to speak with him. Bank security footage shows that a brief argument ensued near the bank's outer gate.

The confrontation rapidly escalated into extreme violence. Bajpai drew a firearm and struck Divya repeatedly across the head and face with the gun butt. As she attempted to pull away, he fired two shots at close range. One bullet penetrated the occipital region of her skull, causing her to collapse onto the pavement.

The gunshots triggered panic across the service lane, causing pedestrians and bank staff to run for cover. Bajpai fled the scene in an autorickshaw. Colleagues rushed to Divya's side and identified her attacker as her estranged husband, an Assistant Manager at SBI’s Regional Business Office. Divya was transported to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, where medical staff declared her dead on arrival. At 1:26 PM, Pragya Mishra issued her first public social media post, alerting authorities that her sister had been shot.

Morning Surveillance and Physical Vulnerability

Investigative findings and CCTV footage reveal that the afternoon attack was preceded by hours of deliberate tracking. At 9:00 AM on August 20, Divya left her parental home in Shringar Nagar, Alambagh, to return to work. Security footage from her neighborhood showed her walking with a pronounced limp. Weeks earlier, Divya had been involved in a severe traffic accident that resulted in multiple fractures to her hand and leg. After nearly two months of recovery, she had recently returned to work despite her limited mobility.

Pragya Mishra noted that Bajpai exploited her sister's physical vulnerability. CCTV footage from commercial establishments near Manoj Pandey Crossing shows Bajpai arriving by autorickshaw around 9:00 AM. Carrying two concealed firearms, he conducted reconnaissance along the bank's perimeter for over three hours, waiting for Divya to step outside.

Legal Estrangement and Courtroom Confrontations

The fatal shooting followed months of legal estrangement and ongoing marital disputes. Married in 2016 in an arranged union, the couple had lived separately since November 2025 due to escalating conflict. Divya had moved back to her family home in Alambagh, while Bajpai remained in his Husadiya apartment.

Approximately one year prior to the incident, Divya filed a formal divorce petition in the Lucknow Family Court, seeking dissolution of the marriage, alimony, and the return of her dowry. Proceedings in family court were marked by hostility. During one court-mandated counseling session, Bajpai engaged in a physical scuffle with a court counselor, an incident that led Divya's family to describe him as increasingly unhinged.

Despite the active divorce litigation and ongoing disputes, Divya maintained intermittent contact with Bajpai. She retained a tattoo of his name on her hand and had recently planned to observe the traditional Teej fast for his well-being. Family members noted that Divya held out hope that his behavior might improve, even as she pursued legal separation.

A History of Domestic Abuse

Statements provided by Divya’s family detail a longer history of physical violence and coercive control. According to Pragya Mishra, Bajpai exhibited controlling behavior from the beginning of their marriage. On their wedding night, he presented Divya with a detailed list of household expenses, demanding an equal 50/50 financial split—an arrangement Divya agreed to, using her salary as a bank officer to cover her half.

Over the course of their ten-year marriage, Bajpai routinely subjected Divya to physical violence over trivial domestic matters. In one instance detailed by Pragya, Bajpai severely beat Divya after bruised tomatoes were delivered to their home via the Blinkit grocery app, blaming her for the poor quality of the order.

Furthermore, family members alleged a broader pattern of abuse within Bajpai's household. In her public posts, Pragya stated that Divya had previously revealed that Bajpai and his sister, Sheeba, had physically assaulted their own ailing mother during a dispute, inflicting injuries that contributed to her death. This history of domestic violence went unaddressed by authorities until it culminated in the public shooting outside ICICI Bank.

Institutional Failures and Systemic Implications

The murder of Divya Mishra highlights systemic gaps in domestic violence intervention, judicial protection, and arms control. Despite pending family court litigation, reported physical altercations with court personnel, and a documented history of stalking, no protective orders or law enforcement interventions were put in place to ensure Divya's safety. Furthermore, Bajpai’s ability to acquire three illegal firearms demonstrates the persistent availability of illicit weapons in the region.

As the Lucknow Police Commissionerate finalizes its forensic and ballistic investigations, the case serves as a tragic demonstration of how unaddressed domestic abuse can escalate into lethal violence. For the family waiting outside the mortuary, the investigation offers answers to how the attack occurred, but provides little comfort in the face of a preventable tragedy.