LUCKNOW, Oct. 31 -- Abducted in Barabanki, taken to neighbouring Lakhimpur Kheri and left with his throat slit, a 26-year-old trader somehow managed to reach a roadside dhaba in Sitapur across the district border, where he sought help through handwritten messages before succumbing to his injuries. Police now suspect that the killing was part of a pre-planned conspiracy over a Rs.5 lakh financial dispute. Five people have been detained for questioning. The victim, Nitesh Kumar Maurya, died at Sitapur district hospital at 3.10pm on Thursday, hours after reaching Pannu Dhaba in Pisawan. Unable to speak because of his throat injury, he wrote the name of an acquaintance, Manoj, whom he held responsible for his condition. Sitapur SP Ankur Agarwal confirmed that Nitesh had reached the eatery in a critical condition and communicated through handwritten messages. Pisawan police first took him to the community health centre in Maholi before referring him to the district hospital. The investigation has pointed to two residents of Nitesh's village, Ankit Gupta and Manoj Maurya, as suspected masterminds of the conspiracy, Barabanki SP Raveena Tyagi said. Preliminary findings suggest that they allegedly orchestrated the murder through aides over a Rs.5 lakh financial dispute. More persons are suspected to have been involved in executing the crime. Five people have been detained for questioning. Nitesh, a resident of Saraiya Mahipat Singh village in Sitapur's Pisawan area, had left home on Wednesday on his motorcycle, carrying a gas cylinder. He told his family that he was going to his married sister's house in Bakshi Ka Talab, Lucknow, to deliver a karwa ahead of Karwa Chauth. His bike was found abandoned near Dafarpur crossing under Barabanki's Budhupur police station on Thursday morning. His family suspected he had been abducted by men travelling in a car who took him towards Maigalganj in Lakhimpur Kheri, slit his throat near Lidhiyai turn and abandoned him, believing he would not survive. Barabanki police registered a kidnapping and murder case at Budhupur police station. According to the district police's Friday update, CCTV footage has provided clues about vehicles suspected to be linked to the crime. Investigators are tracing their routes and verifying the identities of those travelling in them. The postmortem report recorded six ante-mortem injuries. Nitesh's uncle Harish Kumar Maurya had earlier alleged that the murder was linked to an old enmity, claiming Nitesh had been locked inside a shop and assaulted by some people about a year ago. The family named four people in its complaint. Nitesh dealt in the purchase and sale of paddy and wheat and also operated a reverse osmosis water plant....