Lucknow:
A government officer and his wife, who allegedly hired contract killers to eliminate their neighbours and four others, have been arrested after the plot went haywire and led to the killing of their driver in Chinhat area, police said on Thursday.
Ratibhan Varma, who is posted as Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) at Barabanki, had allegedly hired three contract killers with the help of his driver Sarabjeet to murder his neighbours Vinod Awasthi and Kusum, who he suspected were "spoiling" his daughter.
The contract killers stayed at SDM's Harinagar residence in Chinhat for three weeks, they said.
In the meantime, driver Sarabjeet asked the contract killers to kill the SDM's wife and son in a bid to grab their property. However, their guard Moti tipped off the SDM's wife Kailasha about Sarabjeet's plan and she persuaded the killers to eliminate Sarabjeet, they said.
On Tuesday evening, Sarabjeet was stabbed to death by the killers in front of the SDM's Harinagar residence, police said.
Police said that Kailasha and Moti were arrested late on Wednesday night after their names cropped up during investigation.
Varma and three others were arrested on Thursday afternoon for plotting to murder his neighbour and driver, they said.
The three contract killers Ramswaroop, his brother-in-law Ram Dulare and Vipin were arrested this morning.