NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old man allegedly poisoned and strangled three of his family members due to financial stress in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, police said. The accused later surrendered at the Laxmi Nagar police station and confessed to the crime.
According to police, the accused, identified as Yashveer Singh, walked into the station around 5 pm and informed officials that he had killed his family members because of severe financial hardship.
A senior police officer said that Yashveer Singh, a resident of the Mangal Bazar area in Laxmi Nagar, disclosed that he had gone to a temple near Yamuna Bank Metro Station on Monday morning. From a nearby plant, he allegedly collected dhatura seeds and prepared laddoos using them.
As per the accused’s statement, he fed the laddoos to his mother Kavita (46), sister Meghna (24), and younger brother Mukul (14). After they became unconscious, he allegedly strangled them using a muffler, the officer said.
Following the confession, police teams rushed to the rented accommodation and recovered the three bodies from the first floor of the house. Police said the accused’s wife was not present at the time of the incident and her role, if any, is being verified. Police said the accused was under severe mental stress due to mounting debts and unemployment.
A driver by profession, he had not been working for the past six months. He had also taken a term life insurance policy worth around `1.5 crore and allegedly tried to end his life several times over the past two months by staging accidents, claiming snake bites, and injecting air, but was unsuccessful, a senior officer added. His father, a truck driver, does not stay at home regularly due to work.
Crime teams and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) experts collected evidence from the scene before the bodies were sent for post-mortem examination. No PCR call was received regarding the incident. “We have arrested the accused and further questioning of him and his neighbours is underway,” the officer said.