NEW DELHI: Bringing back memories of the Burari case, where 10 members of a family were found hanging in a house in north Delhi in 2018, five members of a family, including three minors, were found dead in northeast Delhi’s Bhajanpura area on Wednesday.
The five, who lived in a rented accommodation at C Block, Bhajanpura, have been identified as Shambhu Chaudhary (43), his wife Sunita (37) and their three children — Shivam (17), Sachin (14) and Komal (12).
At 11.16 am, the police were informed about a foul smell emanating from the house. Police officers broke open the door of the house and found the five decomposed bodies. While the bodies of the couple were in one room, the children were in the other, the police said.
“The cause of the deaths is not clear. It will be ascertained only after an FSL team examines the site and the post-mortem reports are submitted,” police said. The two-storey house has two entrances and the family lived on the ground floor. Shambhu, who hails from Supaul in Bihar, used to drive an e-Rickshaw. They had been living in this house as tenants for five months, the police said.
“The front gate was locked from outside... judging by the foul smell, it appears that the incident took place a few days ago. Since the bodies are badly decomposed, we can’t determine the nature of injuries,” Joint Commissioner of Police, north, Alok Kumar said.
“It is difficult to say anything about the deaths at this stage. The team is carrying out its investigation. After the autopsy, when details about the nature of injuries are revealed, legal action will be initiated,” he said. Adding there were no traces of anyone ransacking the house. Shambhu’s relatives suspect it to be a case of murder and not suicide.
Burari rerun
In the Burari case, police had suspected that the deaths were part of a suicide pact, as handwritten notes found on the spot indicated. The post-mortem of six of the 11 dead revealed no signs of struggle.
Forensic probe
Deepa Verma, director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, said, “Teams from physics, biology and photo departments visited the crime scene. We have requested the police to preserve the bodies so DNA can be collected.”