Allahabad High Court grants bail to Pooja Shakun in high-profile Abhishek Gupta murder case

Justice on Monday allowed the bail application with the conditions that the accused will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation and trial proceedings.

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has granted conditional bail to accused Pooja Shakun Pandey in the high-profile Abhishek Gupta murder case of Aligarh.

Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal on Monday allowed the bail application filed by Pandey, also known as former Mahamandaleshwar Annapurna Bharti, with the conditions that the accused will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation and trial proceedings.

According to the facts of the case, Gupta, a bike showroom owner, was murdered on September 26, 2025. The FIR stated that two motorcycle-borne persons shot him dead while he was travelling on a bus. It was alleged that the applicant and her husband were involved in the conspiracy to murder.

According to the prosecution, 11 calls made to the mobile of co-accused Faizal on September 27, 2025 from the phone of applicant and she and her husband were involved in the conspiracy.

According to applicant counsel, apart from call details, there was no conclusive evidence showing that the applicant was involved in conspiracy to kill the deceased.

The court in its order observed, "Taking into account the fact that specific role of causing fire arm injury has been assigned to co-accused Faizal and Asif, they have also been identified in CCTV footage and recovery of fire arms were also made on the pointing out of co-accused Faizal and Asif and only role assigned to the applicant is conspiracy but there is no conclusive material showing the involvement of the applicant in the aforesaid conspiracy."

"The fact that the applicant is a lady and keeping in view the nature of offence, evidence, complicity of accused and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I am of the opinion that the applicant is entitled to be enlarged on bail. Accordingly, the present application is allowed," the court added.