'Wanted honeymoon in Switzerland': Man poses as AC tech, slits govt official’s wife’s throat for gold; arrested

LUCKNOW: To finance a honeymoon abroad, couples generally consider taking a personal loan.

Kapil Kashyap (22), however, chose to play the AC technician to barge into the house of a govt official, brutally attacking his wife before fleeing with her gold chain and earrings.

With police cracking the case, the honeymoon dream for Kapil ended up in jail.

According to police, Kapil, along with his aide Ram Dheeraj (22), attacked and robbed the wife of a senior secretariat officer in Indiranagar on July 9.

The duo posed as AC technicians to enter the home of Harishchandra Pandey, under secretary in the department of science and technology, slit Shashi Pandey's throat, smashed her head against a wall, and fled with her gold chain and earrings.

"During interrogation, Kapil revealed he recently married a minor girl about 20 days ago and wanted money to take her on a honeymoon. Addicted to a lavish lifestyle, he admitted to splurging loot money on trips to places but this time planned to visit Europe, especially Switzerland. Before the robbery, he and his accomplice allegedly consumed smack to gain courage.

"He said Harish Pandey's house appeared to be a soft target during his recce," said Inspector Vikas Rai.

"Both the accused are drug addicts and are involved in similar thefts," said police, while adding, "Kapil has six prior cases registered against him."

DCP, East Zone, Shashank Singh, who supervised the probe, said that Ghazipur (Indiranagar) police registered a case and launched a probe, analysing CCTV footage and showing pictures of suspects to the victim. Based on leads, a joint team arrested the two accused near Bastauli Talab in Indiranagar.

DCP East Singh confirmed that Kapil has six criminal cases registered at Ghazipur police station and a history sheet will be opened against him.

"We will also initiate proceedings under the Goonda Act," the officer said.

"Their criminal background in other districts is also being verified," said ACP Gazipur Anindya Vikram Singh.

The police have recovered the stolen earrings.