Another assailant of contractor Pappu Pandey held in Saadatganj

LUCKNOW: After a fortnight long cat and mouse chase, police on Saturday managed to nab one more of the three assailants who killed former corporator Shyam Narayan Pandey alias Pappu Pandey last month. Probes indicate Salim, Rustam and Sohrab the three brothers from Sadar area in Cantonment hired three youths from the city to execute the killing. One assailant had been arrested the same day. The incident took place on September 29 in a congested market of Maulviganj area in Aminabad in the evening and Sunil Sharma, the youth who fired five shots at Pandey was nabbed before he could have escaped. Old rivalry between Pandey and trio was cited as the motive by police for the crime. Meanwhile, on Saturday morning the crime branch of Lucknow police laid a trap near Campbell road in Saadatganj area and arrested Mohammad Kamran alias Golu. But, the third assailant identified as Sitapur resident Farhan Khan managed to flee from the area on Saturday, said cops. R K Singh, additional superintendent of police (crime) said a .315 bore firearm, bullets and the Honda Activa vehicle used in the crime was recovered from Kamran.The three assailants had purchased sim cards and separate cell phones particularly for the killing and disposed of it after executing Pandey. "The three rarely made calls to any other numbers from that sim card and sleuths had a hard time trying to know their whereabouts in the initial few days," said sub-inspector Anurag Mishra of Crime branch.Sharma also kept deflecting cops and provided incorrect details of the absconding duo. Police have found out that the assailants remained in close contact with the three brothers and used to meet them in court. The three, lodged at Tihar jail in Delhi, now appear before courts through video conferencing.