Retired MEA official found dead under mysterious circumstances at her home

A 72-year-old woman was found dead in a pool of blood under mysterious circumstances, at her residence in east Delhi’s Chitra Vihar area on Sunday afternoon. The house was ransacked and the accused are at still large.

The deceased, identified as Sumanbaala Bhatnagar, was a retired section officer in Ministry of External Affair (MEA). Since her husband’s death, around two years ago, who too was a retired officer in MEA, she was living alone at the ground floor of her two-storey building in Chitra Vihar.

At around 3.50 pm, her tenant made a call to her to switch on the water motor, but she did not respond. Minutes later, the tenant went downstairs to check and found the doors open. On suspicion she went inside and found her lying on the ground in a pool of blood. She immediately made a call to the police.

During the preliminarily investigation, it is speculated that  someone known to her must have managed friendly entry into the house. She was attacked on her head with a blunt object and was strangled, said an investigating officer.

Bhatnagar is survived by a son who works in Chennai and two married daughter who lives in Dilshad Garden and Geeta Colony. All her family members have been informed and her daughters have been asked to identify what all articles have been robbed. 

The body has been preserved at Lal Bahadur Shahstri hospital, where the post-mortem examination is likely to be done on Monday.

‘We are analysing the CCTV footages from the cameras installed in the colony. The call details of her mobile phone are also being scanned to get some clue. We are also question her relatives and neighbours,’ said Ajay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) said. A case of murder and robbery has also been registered at Shakarpur police station.