JOIN USRelatives questioned over Sarai Rohilla triple murder
The neighbours of the elderly couple, who was found dead in Sarai Rohilla, initially believed that they were killed by their 36-year-old son.
Their bodies were found on the second floor of the building on Friday.
“As the bodies were decomposed and their son was not there, it was thought that he had fled after killing them. It was not before 20 minutes that the son’s body was seen on the third floor,” said a source.
Chandhu Lal, 73, his wife Gullu Devi, 65, and their 36-year-old son Rakesh lived in two single-room flats – one on the second floor and the other above that — in the same building at Sarai Basti.
Their throats were slit and Rakesh’s limbs were tied with a rope.
Could be sedated
Police are also trying to confirm if they were sedated before being killed.
On Saturday, the couple’s daughter Anita joined investigation after reaching the capital from Ahmedabad.
She told police that they might have been killed by Rakesh’s brother-in-law over a property dispute.
“We are probing into the allegations and detained five men, including some relatives, for questioning,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma.
Police said the deaths came to the fore when the connection of a cooler in the house was disconnected by a neighbour on Friday.
Soon, foul smell started emanating from the room on the second floor.
Gullu was the last member of the family to be seen alive by neighbours.
She had gone to neighbour Suman’s house to take curd on Wednesday evening. Since then, the house was found locked from outside.
“One of the rooms looked deliberately disorganised to make it appear like a case of robbery. We are not ruling out the possibility of personal enmity or property dispute,” another police officer added.
The second floor was found to be in a ransacked state, but objects in the third floor appeared to be untouched.