3 found charred to death

The charred bodies of three ‘drug addicts’ were found at a rented house in south Delhi’s Lodhi Colony on Thursday afternoon. The family members of the deceased alleged the landlady — a widow — is involved in the ‘murders’.

Police suspect Sandeep, Ganesh and Gaurav were burnt to death after synthetic clothes and foam in the house caught fire due to beedis used for taking drugs. They are also looking into the allegations of the family members. No FIR has been filed so far in the case.

The house in Sewa Nagar Railway Colony was taken on rent by Sandeep, 22, who hailed from Nepal.

Sandeep lived with his wife and two children. His family members were not at home as they had gone to his sister’s house on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Sandeep called his friends — Ganesh, 22 and Gaurav, 18, for a party at his house. The three work as labourers. Police have recovered drugs and liquor bottles from the room. “They were found dead when Ganesh’s wife Deepa went to the house on Thursday afternoon,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Prem Nath.

Deepa went to the house when Ganesh did not return home. Following this, the police were informed. The call to the police control room was made by Pushpa Chauhan, the landlady. Deepa told police in her statement that Ganesh’s cellphone was switched off a few hours after he left the house on Wednesday. She claimed there were injury marks on Ganesh’s body.

Sandeep’s father Sant Bahadur claimed he saw bloodstains on the stairs leading to the house.

Police have questioned Chauhan and her two sons.

Chauhan had rented out rooms on the terrace of the building to Sandeep. Prima facie, evidence hints that the incident occurred late on Wednesday. “High on drugs, it seems that they were unable to save themselves from the fire,” said a police officer.

Sandeep’s family members alleged he often had arguments with Chauhan and her family members over rent and parties that he organised with his friends. They alleged the Chauhans had also threatened to kill Sandeep.

Police, however, said there were no injury marks on the bodies. After inspecting the house, local electricians claimed that there were no signs of short-circuit.

The bodies have been handed over to families after the postmortems conducted at AIIMS. The investigators are waiting for the postmortem reports. Police have almost ruled out foul play.

While Ganesh hailed from Nepal, Gaurav was from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district.