Elderly couple, son found murdered at Sarai Rohilla

An elderly couple and their son were found murdered at their residence in North Delhi’s Sarai Rohilla area on Friday.

The victims have been identified as Chandu Lal (70), his wife <g data-gr-id="39">Gullu</g> Devi (65) and their son Rakesh (30). Their throats were slit with a sharp object and Rakesh’s limbs were tied with a rope, said DCP (North) Madhur Verma, adding that the motive behind the crime could not be ascertained yet.

The family lived in two single-room accommodations — one on the third floor and the other above that — in the same building at Sarai Basti locality near Shastri Nagar in Sarai Rohilla. While Chandumal and Gullu Devi’s bodies were found on the third floor, Rakesh’s body, with his limbs tied with a rope, was found on the fourth. The doors of both the floors were latched from outside, said a police official.

While the third floor was found to be in a disorganised state, objects in the fourth floor appeared to be untouched, said the official. The incident was reported by a neighbour at around 7.30 pm on Friday and a police team was rushed to the spot. Neighbours also told the police that the family was last seen on Wednesday. The incident came to light when the person living next door in the third floor went to check on the family, surprised by the door bolted from outside — without being properly locked — for such a long time, said the official.

Neighbours also claimed to have heard nothing at all suggesting any form of physical conflict.

The bodies were also not in a decomposed state, indicating that they were murdered in the last 24 hours. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination and the autopsy report is awaited to ensure the time and cause of death and also to check whether the victims were sedated before being killed, said the official.

Prima facie, it appears that the unidentified murderer is a person known to the family, who had a friendly entry and deliberately turned the room into a disorganised state to make it appear like a case of robbery, said an official privy to the investigation.

He further said, police are questioning neighbours and relatives to find out if the family was involved in any property dispute or if any of them had any personal rivals.

Rakesh had a business of his own and produced stickers for plastic containers. The police are also about to question his business associates for more leads into the investigation.

“A case under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC has been registered at Sarai Rohilla police station and <g data-gr-id="37">investigation</g> is underway,” Madhur Verma added.