Delhi Police’s Crime Branch will now investigate the mysterious case of the death of 11 members of the same family which shocked the nation on Sunday.
Eleven members of a family were found dead under mysterious circumstances in north Delhi’s Burari locality on Sunday morning. Some of the bodies were found hanging, while others were lying on the floor blindfolded with their hands and legs tied up.
“The case has been transferred to us (crime branch). We have inspected the site,” Joint Commissioner Police (Crime) Alok Kumar told reporters.
He said that a search of the house revealed certain hand-written notes “which point towards observance of some definite spiritual or mystical practices by the whole family”.
“Coincidentally, these notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes, etc of the deceased were tied and taped,” he said adding that further investigation will establish a clearer link with the deaths.
Ten bodies were found hanging and blindfolded, while a 77-year-old woman’s body was found on the floor. Two of the deceased are minors, police said.
The victims have been identified as Narayan Devi (77), her daughter Pratibha (57) and two sons – Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45).
Bhavnesh’s wife Savita (48) and their three children – Meenu (23), Neetu (25) and Dhruv (15) were also found dead, police said, adding that Lalit’s wife Tina (42) along with their 15-year-old son Shivam was also among the dead.
Pratibha’s daughter, Priyanka (33), who had got engaged last month and was supposed to get married by the end of this year, was also found hanging, they said.
A case of murder has been registered at Burari police station in the incident, police said, adding the case has been handed over to the Crime Branch.
“Some of them were found hanging from an iron grill ceiling while others were lying on the floor blindfolded with their hands and legs tied up,” IANS quoted Joint Commissioner of Police Rajesh Khurana as saying earlier today.
The police prima facie suspected suicide but are checking all possible angles as well as CCTV footages.
The family reportedly ran a grocery shop and plywood business in the Sant Nagar area of Delhi. When they didn’t open the shop on Sunday, a neighbour reportedly went to check on the family and found all eleven members dead.
While one of the sons ran a grocery store, the other was a carpenter. Both operated their businesses from their family home.
“Both brothers were very friendly…They cannot commit suicide,” a neighbour was quoted as saying by IANS.
(With inputs from agencies.)