Three members of a family found dead at Rohini

A 55-year-old businessman, his wife and daughter were found dead at their house in Rohini on Friday morning. Police said the house was not ransacked, suggesting nobody forced their way in and somebody known to the family may be involved.

YPS Chauhan, who runs a chemicals godown at Shahbad Daulatpur, his 50-year-old wife Rekha and 22-year-old daughter Karishma, lived in a two-storey house in the B-Block of Rohini Sector 17. The family is from Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district.

“Chauhan was found with head injuries on the ground floor of the building, while Rekha and Karishma were found strangled on the first floor,” a senior police official said.
Police have ruled out robbery as a motive after initial probe found that only Chauhan’s mobile phone and Karishma’s laptop were missing. Sources say Chauhan’s older daughters—Hema and Jolly—are being questioned to unearth if Chauhan was involved in property disputes.

The deaths came to light when a local priest’s daughter went to the house around 7 am and found the main gate open. According to locals, Rekha, a religious woman, was scheduled to catch a tourist bus to Vaishno Devi with local priest Udaychand Jha and nine other women of the neighbourhood on Friday morning.

“Udaychand had organised the trip and all the women were asked to assemble in front of Gauri Shankar temple. The bus arrived on time, but Rekha was nowhere to be seen. So, Udaychand sent his daughter Sunaina to call Rekha,” said Naresh Kumar Gupta, Chauhan’s neighbour.

Sunaina went to Rekha’s house and found the gate unlocked. “When she went inside, she saw Chauhan lying in a pool of blood and immediately raised an alarm,” Naresh added. Hearing the commotion, neighbours gathered outside the house and informed police and Chauhan’s other daughters.

The bodies were taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital for post-mortem after a crime and forensic team examined the house.

The police official further confirmed that the killer tried to remove evidence as the rooms were cleaned to remove bloodstains. Police are also looking at claims that a youth was seen roaming in the area searching for Chauhan’s residence around 4:30 pm on Thursday.

“A case of murder has been lodged at K N Katju Marg police station. We hope to question more people to probe all angles during the course of investigation. The bodies will be handed over to the family after post-mortem on Saturday,” the official added.

The family had been residing at the house for the past 17 years. Hema and Jolly are married and live separately, while their son passed away in a road accident in 2010.
Police will question Chauhan’s sons in-laws, sources said. His wife and child have been living at her maternal house since he passed away and it is believed that a property dispute was going on between the two families.