UP: Inspired by web series, 2 men kill bizman & wife; held within 48 hrs

MEERUT: Two days after a 73-year-old businessman and his wife were shot by two unidentified men while resisting a robbery bid at their house in Meerut’s Brahmpuri area, police on Saturday arrested both the accused.

According to police officials, the two accused have been identified as Priyansh Sharma, 25, a final year LLB student, and Yash Sharma, 24, who works in a battery repairs shop. Police said, during interrogation the mastermind behind the crime Priyansh informed them that he was inspired by a crime-based web series and did exhaustive research in shortlisting a target home.

The accused further told police that they conducted recce on every member of the house and the house had easy access as the deceased's eldest son would go out for morning walks. According to police, Priyansh also bought a cutter and grinder to break open the strong safe in the house. For three months, they worked on the exit plan with the aim to dodge CCTVs. On Thursday, Dhan Kumar Jain (73) was killed while his wife Anju Jain (65) was seriously injured when they resisted a robbery bid by two men who broke into their house, SHO Vishnu Kaushik said. Anju died during treatment.

SP (city) Piyush Kumar said, “Despite doing the recce, the duo were not professional criminals. After committing the robbery, the duo escaped on a bike with a fake registration number plate but their peculiar attire (all-black tracksuit and a helmet) kept appearing in the CCTV footage leading the police to track them easily.”