NEW DELHI: A septuagenarian couple was found brutally murdered in their home in Kohat Enclave, Pitampura, on Tuesday morning. Their house, located in northwest Delhi, had been ransacked, with the locker broken open. The couple was throttled with a nebuliser pipe and assaulted with a rod too.
The couple had recently hired a new caretaker, who is now absconding and has emerged as the prime suspect in the case, police say. He has been captured on CCTV camera walking out of the house with a backpack around 5.15am on Monday, sources said. Police have filed an FIR of murder during robbery and police commissioner Sanjay Arora has formed 10 teams to crack the case, which has left the locality shaken.
The victims, Mohinder Singh Talwar (71) and his wife Daljeet Kaur (70) live on the second floor of a building. Their two married sons, Chanpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh, live with their families in the adjacent building. They had an apparel business.
The murder was discovered by the couple’s daughter-in-law who went to check on them around 10am. According to police, the bodies were found in different rooms. Singh’s body was in the bedroom, while Kaur’s body was discovered in the adjacent study.
Preliminary investigation suggest that the couple was murdered by strangulation. A pillow had been placed over the face of one of the victims while a bloodstained rod lay next to the other and their necks had flexible pipes around them, said a relative. The couple, it was evident, put up a fight to save themselves from the attacker, said an investigator.
Furthermore, the lock on the cupboard was found broken, and the room was in disarray, with scattered items and missing valuables. Gold ornaments, including those worn by the elderly woman, were taken, along with an undisclosed amount of cash. The victim’s family is still in the process of determining the full extent of the stolen jewellery.
According to the victim’s family, a daytime caretaker had been attending to the couple’s needs until two months ago, when he left for another job opportunity.
At the couple’s request, the former caretaker arranged for a new caretaker to take over, who started four days ago, on Thursday. This new caretaker would visit in the evenings and depart in the mornings, providing overnight care for the elderly couple.
Police suspect that the murder may have taken place late on Sunday or in the early hours of Monday as the bodies had signs of decomposition.
“The house appeared to have been thoroughly searched, with several valuables missing, suggesting robbery as the primary motive,” said a senior cop.
Police have launched a thorough investigation, collecting CCTV footage from surrounding areas and interviewing neighbours who might have witnessed any suspicious activity. They are also gathering information about the missing attendant, including previous employment details and possible whereabouts.
“Forensic teams have collected fingerprints, DNA samples, and other physical evidence from the crime scene,” DCP Bhishma Singh said. The house has been sealed to preserve any additional evidence that might help in solving the case.
This is the second heinous crime with senior citizens as the target in as many days in the northwest district, indicating that the police brass may have to take some corrective measures. There has been no breakthrough in the Ashok Vihar case in which an elderly couple was held hostage and their home ransacked. The assailants fled with cash and jewellery worth several lakhs and took away the victims’ car, only to abandon it at some distance.
