'It was a mistake': Lucknow youth who shot father dead, chopped up body

Lucknow: "Galti se ho gaya (It happened by mistake)," the 21-year-old, accused of killing his father and dismembering the body, said on Wednesday while being taken to a local court amid tight security.

The grisly murder on early February 20, allegedly due to the father's insistence that his son clears the medical entrance exam, has left the city shaken.

Confronted by mediapersons in the court premises, Akshat Pratap Singh said, "Galti se ho gaya." When pressed on how such an act could happen "by mistake", he remained silent.

Asked whether his younger sister was involved in the crime, Akshat shook his head in denial, indicating that she had no role in the incident.

Wearing a maroon pyjama and a sweatshirt, with a surgical face mask covering his face, Akshat was later escorted in a police vehicle under heavy security and sent to judicial custody.

According to the Lucknow Police Commissionerate, the accused shot his father Manvendra Singh (50) with his licensed .315 bore rifle at their residence in Ashiyana's Sector L on February 20 around 4.30 am following a dispute over the NEET examination.

Police said on February 23, Akshat lodged a written complaint at Ashiyana police station claiming that his father had gone missing. During questioning, however, his statements appeared suspicious.

"On sustained interrogation, the accused broke down and confessed to having shot his father dead with his licensed rifle following a dispute over the NEET competitive examination," police said in a press note.

According to officials, after the murder, the accused used knives and saws to sever the hands and legs of the body in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The severed limbs were wrapped in polythene and dumped in bushes near a canal in the Nadarganj area, while the torso was concealed inside a blue plastic drum kept in the ground floor of the residence.

To mislead investigators, he filed a false missing report and allegedly told neighbours that his father had gone to Delhi on urgent work.

On his instance, police recovered the torso from the drum and the severed limbs. Two knives and two saws were recovered from near the Transport Nagar railway track where they had been discarded. A burnt woollen blanket and ashes were also recovered from Anora jungle in Sarojini Nagar, police said.

The licensed rifle used in the crime, along with cartridges and other evidence, has been seized. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act at Ashiyana police station.

Earlier, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Jitendra Kumar Dubey had said prima facie the crime stemmed from anger over the father repeatedly pressuring the accused to focus on studies and clear the NEET examination.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Vikrant Vir had said a forensic team examined the spot and collected evidence and further investigation is underway.