Hotelier murder: Spotlight on Katra gang, key member shot dead by SOG

Varanasi: Police teams in Ghazipur probing the murder of a hotel owner in Ghazipur have turned the spotlight on Shanker Pandey, leader of the Katra gang that executed the killing. Pandey is prime target of police after they eliminated key gang member Kamlesh Chaudhary Bind (26) for his involvement in killing Vineet Rai. Advocate Alok Rai claimed that his son Vineet’s murder was fallout of an extortion bid.

After May 29 night murder of Vineet Rai, owner of a hotel on Fullanpur Bypass Road under Kotwali police station in Ghazipur district, and exposure of involvement of Shankar Pandey and Kamlesh, ADG (Varanasi Zone) Piyush Mordia announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh on each of them. On Wednesday night, Special Operations Group gunned down Kamlesh, who had seven cases against him, including of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, assault, criminal intimidation and violations of the Arms Act, registered between 2017 and 2026. The encounter took place near Kurtha village.

SP Ghazipur Iraj raja on Thursday said teams are working round the clock to arrest Pandey. Though no complaints were received by police against him since he came out of jail in Oct 2025, it is suspected that he executed the plan to kill hotel owner Vineet Rai on May 29 night. In police records, the first case was lodged against Pandey when he was 17 years of age. There were seven criminal cases, including murder, attempt to murder, rioting, Arms Act and Excise Act offences against him but the SP did not associate him with Mukhtar Ansari gang.

Locals said that as an adolescent, Pandey led a group that helped resolve disputes among students. Later, his group members got involved in grabbing of land disputes. He got associated with a criminal gang but later, along with Kamlesh and their other group members, he emerged stronger. Since they used to gather in a particular Katra (lane of shops), they earned notoriety as the Katra gang.

In Mar 2023, Mukhtar died and police drive to uproot his gang and destroy his economic empire was intensified. To fill the void, many petty criminals became active and menace of Pandey’s Katra gang too became notorious. After assaulting a youth named Vipin in full public view, Pandey, Kamlesh and their aides attempted to kidnap a cloth merchant and threatened to kill him in Sept 2024. SP Iraj Raja recalled that in Sept 2024, Pandey was put behind bars for almost a year.

After Dec 2025, Katra gang began to gain notoriety, though it was not involved so far in any major crime like the sensational murder of Vineet Rai.