LUCKNOW: Shani Rawat, 24, whose body was found dumped in a drain near Sisendi Road under Nigohan police station limits two days ago, was murdered by his in-laws for marrying against the family wishes.On Thursday, Lucknow police arrested two men — Santosh Yadav (35), a cloth trader and Devesh Yadav alias Bogga (24), a driver, who allegedly spearheaded the conspiracy. Three others, including Devesh’s brother Jeetu, Rajkumar and Jai Singh alias Kallu, remain on the run. Additional DCP, south zone, Vasanth Rallapalli said that the motive lay in a “deeply wounded sense of family honour.” “About one-and-a-half-year ago, Shani married Devesh’s sister despite fierce opposition. While the family’s anger simmered quietly, it reached a breaking point when the couple welcomed a child. Devesh and Jeetu admitted they felt humiliated. They wanted to avenge what they saw as an insult to their family honour,” said Rallapalli. The murder was executed with chilling precision, he added. He said that investigators revealed that on Sept 8 Santosh lured Shani near a liquor shop on Jail Road where an SUV waited. “Once inside, the young man was attacked by Devesh, Jeetu and their associates with iron rods until he collapsed. Still unsatisfied, the assailants dragged him near a drain on Sisendi Road, where they struck his head again with the same rods to ensure he would not survive. His body was then dumped in the water to erase evidence,” he said.Police have recovered the murder weapon — an iron rod, a blood-stained gamcha and the SUV used to transport the victim. “Both Santosh and Devesh are history-sheeters. Santosh has past murder cases pending against him,” confirmed ACP Mohanlaganj Rajneesh Verma.For Shani’s wife, the tragedy is doubly cruel: she has lost both her husband and, in a way, her own family. As police hunt the absconding accused, the case underscores the stark clash between individual choice and traditional notions of family pride — a clash that, for Shani Rawat, proved fatal.