Lucknow man murders wife, kills self; victim's sister questions why he had 3 guns

A day after Divya Mishra was shot outside her Lucknow bank branch, her sister Pragya Mishra questioned how Manas Bajpai obtained revolvers and used two auto-rickshaws. Her posts have raised fresh questions about the sequence of events, even as several allegations remain unverified.The victim Divya Mishra and the accused Manas BajpaiA day after Manas Bajpai shot his estranged wife Divya Mishra outside the ICICI Bank branch where she worked, killed his ailing sister at home and then died by suicide, Divya’s sister called him a “psycho” and raised questions about the weapons and the sequence of events surrounding the killings.Pragya Mishra, Divya’s sister and a YouTuber-journalist, addressed her sister’s killing through a series of posts on her social media account. In her posts, she questioned how Manas, a senior assistant at the State Bank of India (SBI), came to have three revolvers and who supplied them to him.She also questioned the role of the auto-rickshaws Manas used before and after the crime. Pragya wrote that Manas came to the spot in an auto-rickshaw, opened fire on her sister and then left in another auto-rickshaw. Pointing to the second auto, she asked whether another person was involved in the killing and urged police to identify the driver. Manas and Divya had been living separately for about a year amid a family dispute, while a case between the couple was pending before a family court. Bajpai’s parents had died, and his sister was ill.A WhatsApp status attributed to Bajpai said that he had shot Divya and accused her of cheating on him. However, police have not publicly confirmed the authenticity of the status or whether it was posted by Bajpai.WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY The questions come a day after Manas shot Divya twice outside an ICICI Bank branch, where she worked as a deputy manager. Divya was rushed to a hospital, where she was declared dead. Manas then returned to his home, around 2.5 kilometres from the bank, where he shot his sister before shooting himself.Police received a call about a woman being shot at around 12.15 pm on Thursday. Around half an hour later, at 12.45 pm, another call was received about a man having shot himself at his residence. Senior cop Diksha Sharma told India Today that the two locations were approximately 2.5 kilometres apart.Eyewitnesses said Manas appeared completely normal after returning to his neighbourhood from the bank. He spoke to local shopkeepers, asked about their well-being and then entered his house, locking the door from inside. When residents later entered the house, they found Manas and his sister dead inside, with devotional songs playing on the television.They further said that Manas and Divya had been talking outside the bank when he suddenly pulled out a gun and fired two shots at her before fleeing.WHAT PRAGYA ALLEGESReferring to what she had heard earlier from her sister, Pragya alleged that Divya had told her that Manas and his sister had beaten their mother so severely that she died.She further alleged that Manas had a fallout with a counsellor at the family court, where a case between the couple was pending. Pragya also said that her sister was tired of the family disputes and wanted to separate from Manas.The victim’s sister also mentioned that Manas had prepared a list of household expenses and demanded that Divya bear half of them, a condition she said her sister had accepted. She claimed that Divya had stopped contributing her share of the expenses for about a year and suggested that, in Manas’s “psycho” mindset, this may have been viewed as “cheating”.Despite their strained relationship, Pragya said Divya was still planning to observe the Teej fast and had not removed Manas’s name tattooed on her hand. According to her sister, Divya still hoped that things would improve and that Manas would change.Pragya's allegations regarding the revolvers, auto-rickshaws and family history have not been independently verified by India Today.- EndsPublished By: Akash ChatterjeePublished On: Aug 21, 2026 17:10 IST