Former BHU department head hires hitman to kill his successor after losing post

Representative image

It reads like a thriller script, yet this is grim reality. A shocking revenge plot involving a former Banaras Hindu University (BHU) professor, a hired contract killer and a brutal campus attack has left the academic community in turmoil. The alleged mastermind, Budati Venkatesh Lu, former head of the Telugu department, remains at large after reportedly arranging a violent assault on his successor, Prof Challa Sriramachandra Murthy, who survived the July 28 ambush with fractures in both arms, as per a TOI report.

According to Varanasi police, cited by TOI, the conspiracy unfolded after Lu lost his departmental headship following a complaint filed by Murthy. Investigators revealed that Lu allegedly enlisted a network of accomplices, including a former research scholar and an assistant professor from another university, to execute the attack.

The breakthrough came with the arrest of alleged hitman Pramod Kumar, alias Ganesh Pasi, from Prayagraj, who was wounded in the leg during a police shootout near Dafi in Varanasi. Hours earlier, authorities had detained Bhutpur Bhaskar, a former research scholar from Telangana’s Narayanpet district, accused of coordinating the assailants. Another suspect, Vedant Bhushan Mishra of Jaunpur, was arrested earlier in the probe.

ADCP Kashi Zone T Saravanan was cited by TOI as saying that Bhaskar admitted to maintaining contact with Lu since 2016. Investigators claim Bhaskar was introduced to Mohammed Qasim Babu, an assistant professor at Kaimur University, who allegedly encouraged retaliation against Murthy.

On July 25, Bhaskar and Qasim reportedly flew from Telangana to Varanasi, checked into a hotel and recruited Pramod to arrange the assault. Police said Pramod then brought in four others - Suraj Dubey, Pradyuman Yadav, Vishal Yadav and Mishra - to ambush Murthy near Birla Hostel as he rode home on his motorcycle. The assailants allegedly struck him with iron rods before fleeing, TOI reported.

When police cornered Pramod on Tuesday night, he allegedly opened fire before being shot in the leg. Officers recovered a firearm, live cartridges and cash from him. Pramod reportedly confessed to accepting payment for the attack.

With Lu’s phone switched off and his whereabouts unknown, authorities are intensifying efforts to track him down, along with Dubey, the Yadav brothers and Qasim. Meanwhile, BHU faculty members staged protests demanding justice for Murthy, whose recovery is ongoing.