LUCKNOW, Jan. 7 -- A blue keypad mobile phone pulled from bushes near a highway drain has given Nigohan police their first breakthrough in the murder of city farmer Shiv Prakash alias Kabir, nearly two months after his half-burnt body was found in Unnao district.

The recovery came after police secured a rare 24-hour custody remand of two alleged masterminds in a case that has its roots in a multi-crore land dispute along the Lucknow-Raebareli highway.

"Repeated interrogation of the accused had yielded no results, prompting investigators to approach the court for custody remand of Sujit Kumar Srivastava and Dilip Kumar Rawat, whom police describe as the key conspirators. The court granted a 24-hour remand on January 6, during which the a...