Real story behind UP bus hijack not EMI non-payment

Agra: The real story behind the bus hijack in Uttar Pradesh's Agra has now taken a new turn with the arrest of the main accused Pradeep Gupta. The bus was hijacked on Wednesday and Gupta arrested a day later.

The police intercepted the accused Pradeep Gupta in the Fatehabad area of Agra after a brief encounter in which he suffered a bullet injury in his leg.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Agra, Babloo Kumar, money dispute and not delay in the EMI payment, was the reason for hijacking of the bus which was owned by Pawan Arora from Gwalior.

It is said that Pradeep Gupta was involved in a monetary dispute with Ashok Arora, the father of Pawan Arora.

Ashok Arora died due to Covid-19 on Tuesday and the hijacking was planned by the accused Pradeep Gupta to realise the outstanding money Arora owed him.

The government spokesperson, on Wednesday, had said that the Shri Ram Finance Company was responsible for taking away the bus with 34 passengers due to non-payment of loan instalments.

A district official admitted on Friday that the incident had 'led to panic and some wrong information was given out'.

Meanwhile, the Shri Ram Finance Company issued a statement saying that the vehicle is not "repossessed by us nor any of our representative. Company has no relevance with this incident. The loan done against this vehicle from our Gwalior branch has already been settled in the year 2018. We have already met today morning and informed to SHO, Hari Parwat and SP city, Agra pertaining to this matter."

The Agra SSP said that Pradeep Gupta was identified by the CCTV footage at the toll plaza on Wednesday as he led the hijacking of the bus.

The family members of Ashok Arora identified Pradeep Gupta from the CCTV footage at a toll plaza. He was in the SUV car used by the alleged hijackers.

The bus was hijacked on Wednesday at the New Southern By-Pass in Agra. The driver, conductor and helper were asked to get down from the bus and passengers were asked to get into another bus. The hijacked bus was later traced in Etawah district.

During interrogation, Gupta told the police that he had business relations with Ashok Arora and his family since 2012. He said that Arora owed him Rs 67 lakh for the registration and permit of his buses that he had arranged for him from Etawah and was not paying back despite repeated reminders. He said that he planned to take away his bus forcibly to recover the amount.