They eliminated the family for gain

The major clue for the police in the case was the domestic helps — Deepak Haldar and his wife Suchitra who had gone missing from Sachdev’s house soon after the murders.

Haldar worked at Chittaranjan Park Hotel in New Delhi about 10 years ago. His relative Prabheer brought him to Bangalore and got him a job as a security guard.

He worked at different places and fell in love with Suchitra who served as a maid for 10 years at Sachdev’s residence. Haldar too moved in after marrying Suchitra.

It turns out that the third accused, Mohammad Sarbal, was in love with Haldar’s elder sister Mintu and married her later.

The fourth accused, Bidan Shikari, belongs to Haldar’s village and is his friend, police said. Haldar’s mother stays at Tavarekere in Bangalore. All the four accused would frequently visit his mother at her house.

Sarbal and Bidan had visited Sachdev’s residence. The suspects knew his background and they decided to eliminate him for gain. They met in the second week of February and worked out the modus operandi.

Raja, Shikari and another person joined Haldar and Suchitra on the morning of February 16, 2009.

They swore in the name of different gods and promised not to disclose the murder plan to anybody, police said.

On the day of the incident, all the four culprits assembled at Suchitra’s servant’s quarters. After an hour-long discussion, they set out on their mission. When Sarbal pressed the calling bell, Rita opened the door and was overpowered by them before she could realise what was happening.

They killed her, before attacking the professor and their son Deepak in two separate rooms. They pushed Sachdev’s body beneath a cot and placed some boxes on it to hide it. They decamped with Rs 30,000 and other valuables. It took nearly one hour for them to complete their mission.

“They were perhaps aware of our strategy. Every time we raided their rented houses, they would outsmart us and vacate the place leaving absolutely no clue. We were taken aback to find that in every place they managed to get a house on rent,” police said.