Inspired By Web Series, 2 Men Kill Businessman And Wife In UP; Arrested

Two men were arrested here today in connection with the alleged murder of a businessman and his wife on Thursday, officials said.

The accused said they committed the crime after being inspired by the 'Asur' web series, released in 2020, Senior Superintendent of Police Rohit Singh Sajwan said.

On Thursday, Dhan Kumar Jain (70), a resident of the Brahmapuri area, 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, Mr Sajwan said. 

The accused fled with cash and jewellery, he said. Anju died during treatment yesterday,

Mr Sajwan said eight teams were formed to crack the case, which examined the CCTV footage, conducted electronic surveillance and also gathered inputs from informers, following which the two accused were arrested.

The arrested persons have been identified as Priyank Sharma (25) alias Parush, a final year LLB student, and his friend Yash Sharma alias Yashu (24),  who has studied till Class 8 and  works in a battery shop, the police said.

During interrogation, Priyank told the police that, inspired by the 'Asur' web series, he looked up ways to escape the police on YouTube, Mr Sajwan said.

The accused added that they used gloves, masks and helmets to hide their identity and changed the number plate of the bike after committing the crime, he said. The duo chose an escape route where the CCTV cameras could not identify them.

A day before the incident, the accused had gone to the businessman's house on the pretext of looking for a room to rent, they added.

Mr Sajwan said a pistol, motorcycle, clothes, helmets and shoes worn during the commission of the crime, besides gold and silver jewellery and cash looted from the businessman's house have been recovered from the accused.

After the incident came to light, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had tried to corner the state government over the incident.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, mr Yadav had said, "The murder of a businessman in Meerut by entering his house, looting and murderous attack on his wife is a heart-wrenching and extremely terrifying incident." 

"Recession during the BJP government, corruption of officials, collection of donations by the ruling party and, above all, the fear of criminals have completely killed business in Uttar Pradesh," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)