Constable kills two relatives, self

A 24-year-old Delhi Police constable allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service weapon after killing his brother-in-law and the latter’s mother in Alipur area of outer Delhi late on Wednesday night.

A senior police official said Vijay, from Haryana’s Sonipat district joined Delhi Police in 2010 and was working with the security wing in south Delhi’s Lodhi Estate area. He went on a shooting spree to avenge his sister’s suicide in 2003.

The victims are his 36-year-old brother-in-law Manoj Kumar, a suspended Municipal Corporation of Delhi schoolteacher and his mother Prakashwati, 62, of Bakhtawarpur village in Alipur.

Initial inquiries revealed that Vijay’s sister Rachna had committed suicide after a year of marriage and Manoj and Prakashwati were jailed on charges of subjecting her to cruelty. It also came to light that Vijay had called the police control room at 9:40 pm on Wednesday reporting that shots were fired in Bakhtawarpur village.

“When a team reached at the spot, Manoj and Prakashwati were found lying in a pool of blood. They were taken to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chander Hospital, but were declared brought dead on arrival. Their bodies had multiple gunshot wounds,” said Mohammad Akhtar Rizvi, additional deputy commissioner of police (outer).

Locals claim that a boy came to Prakashwati’s house around 9:15 pm looking for Manoj. Prakashwati took him to Manoj’s house – around 500 metres away, but the boy left without meeting Manoj. “We heard gun shots and later found the mother and son injured and gasping for breath,” said Manish, a local resident.

About two hours later, Vijay was also found with a gunshot injury on a road near Alipur police station and his service weapon was recovered from the spot. A police control room vehicle took him to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chander Hospital, but he succumbed to injuries before receiving treatment.

The bodies were later shifted to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, where a post-mortem was conducted on Thursday. “Doctors have confirmed that Manoj was shot five times, while Prakashwati was shot twice,” another police official said.

Deaths linked

The deaths were linked after initial probe revealed that bullets recovered from the three bodies were fired from the same gun – Vijay’s service weapon. Police now suspect that Vijay attacked Manoj and Prakashwati and shot himself after the shooting spree.
It has also come to light that after Rachna’s suicide, her father Rana Bahadur had alleged that she was tortured and mentally harassed by Manoj and his mother Prakashwati which led her to take the extreme step.

A case under Sections 498A (husband or relative of husband a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 304A (causing death by negligence) was lodged against Manoj and Prakashwati over Bahadur’s statement. Subsequently, they were jailed in November 2011 for subjecting a woman to cruelty, but the charge of causing death by negligence could not be proved.

However, they were released on bail after 14 days and paying a compensation of Rs 1 lakh. Both Vijay and Manoj were presently fighting a case over the matter in the high court.

Manoj had remarried in 2007 and had two children.