Four held for robbing hospital owner, Rs 4.15 lakh recovered

Lucknow: In a major breakthrough, Lucknow Police on Thursday arrested four accused for robbing a hospital owner of Rs 5 lakh on Kisan Path on June 11. Police also recovered Rs 4.15 lakh of the looted cash, buried in a plastic box near one of the accused’s houses.The arrested accused include Saurabh Pandey, Akash alias Abhishek Pratap Singh, Vivek Mishra alias Nilesh Mishra and Prashant Shukla, all from Pratapgarh.The robbery took place near Bakshi Ka Talab on the Lucknow-Sitapur highway when the assailants intercepted the vehicle of Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, a Daliganj-based businessman. The accused fired shots to terrorise the occupants before fleeing with a bag containing around Rs 5 lakh.ACP BKT Vikas Pandey said police apprehended the four suspects near the Bhaisamau underpass on the Kisan Path service lane.During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to the crime. Based on the disclosure made by Saurabh Pandey alias Jordan, 24, police recovered Rs 4.15 lakh from a plastic container buried under bushes in the backyard of his residence. “The major portion of the looted cash was concealed underground, while the remaining amount was divided equally among the accused,” ACP Pandey said.Police said at least two of the accused have criminal histories involving serious offences. Efforts are underway to recover the remaining cash and ascertain the individual roles of each accused in the highway heist.