Five members of family, including 3 children, found dead

New Delhi: Five members of a family, including three children, were found dead inside their house in north-east Delhi's Bhajanpura area on Wednesday. The deceased have been identified as Shambhu Chaudhary (43), an e-rickshaw driver, wife Sunita (37) and three children aged 12, 14 and 18. Police have launched a murder investigation in the case.

The deceased lived in C Block area of Bhajanpura. Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Ved Prakash Surya said they received information at around 11.30 am after neighbours complained of a foul smell coming from the house.

The police broke open the door and found five bodies. The highly-decomposed bodies were sent for post-mortem.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) Alok Kumar told Millennium Post that they have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC. They have started their investigation in the case keeping in mind all possible angles. "We are probing the role of outsiders in the case as well as a murder-suicide angle. It will be too early to comment on the reason behind the death," he said and added that so far, they have ruled out any theft.

According to the police, the victims must have died at least six days ago as their bodies were badly decomposed. One door was locked from inside and the other was bolted from outside. The cause of death is yet to be ascertained and the post-mortem report is being awaited in the case, a senior police officer said adding that no note has been recovered from the spot.

Shambhu used to drive an e-rickshaw in Bhajanpura and he was a native of Supaul district, Bihar. The family had been residing in the house as tenants for the past five months. The deceased's brother, Roshan, said Shambhu had no personal enmity with anyone. "My brother was happy with whatever he was earning," Roshan said. Shankar Jaiswal, one of Shambhu's neighbours, said the family was very nice.