Ludhiana triple murder: Taunted for being childless, neighbour bludgeoned senior citizens to death, say cops
The neighbour, who was nabbed on Saturday, was nursing a grudge against the family following a verbal spat in which one of the deceased had taunted him for being childless
The police claimed to have cracked the New Janakpuri triple murder case in which three members of a family were hacked to death with the arrest of their 42-year-old neighbour within 12 hours of the crime.
The police said they have recovered a hammer used in executing the murders from the possession of the accused.
The police revealed that the motive behind the triple murder was a verbal spat between Surinder Kaur alias Bachan Kaur, 68, and the accused Robin alias Munna.
According to police, Robin, 42, held a grudge against Surinder Kaur after she taunted him of being childless after five years of marriage during a verbal spat.
“He nursed a grudge and repeated taunts and humiliation appear to be the motive behind the crime,” a police official privy to the investigation said.
The police also said that the accused had trespassed into the victim’s house with a plan to kill Surinder Kaur, but he bludgeoned her husband, Chaman Lal, 70, and mother-in-law Surjit Kaur alias Jeeto, 90, to death after they woke up hearing her cries for help. The accused committed the crime on Thursday morning.
“The accused shared a common wall of the house with the victims. After committing the crime, the accused remained inside his house and tried to behave normally to avoid suspicion. The police have recovered a video camera, seven cassettes, a mobile phone, a briefcase, which he had robbed from the house, besides blood-stained clothes and curtain from his possession,” police said.
Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said that the locals helped the police in cracking the case. “When the police were working on different theories, the locals insisted that we question Robin alias Munna. The police rounded him up on Friday night for questioning, and he confessed to the crime,” Sidhu said.
“The accused stated that even after five years of marriage, he has no child. He alleged that Surinder Kaur used to taunt her for it even in front of his wife and neighbours,” Sidhu said.
“The accused added that on Thursday morning he was feeding chickens he reared on his roof when Surinder Kaur came upstairs. She taunted him again for not bearing a child. In a fit of rage, he decided to kill her. He went downstairs and brought a hammer. He scaled the common wall to enter the victim’s home at around 6.15 am. He found that Surinder Kaur was taking a bath. He hid on the roof and waited for her to come out. As she came out of the bathroom, Robin followed her to the room. She was not wearing the shirt. Robin bludgeoned her to death with the hammer,” Sidhu added.
The commissioner of police further added that Chaman Lal woke up and saw the accused murdering Surinder Kaur. Robin also bludgeoned him to death with the hammer. Hearing the commotion, Surjit Kaur alias Jeeto also woke up, and switched on the light in the adjoining room. On seeing this, the accused also killed her and shifted her body into Surinder Kaur’s room.
Saumya Mishra, the joint commissioner of police, said that after committing the murders, the accused opened the knob of an LPG gas cylinder and made a hole in the tube so that the gas would spread quickly. He lit incense sticks with the intention to set the house on fire to make it look like a mishap, however, the gas cylinder did not catch flames. He also ransacked the house, stole a video camera, seven cassettes, a mobile phone of Chaman Lal and a briefcase, thinking it contained money. He removed the SIM from the mobile phone and threw it away.
After executing three murders, the accused went to his house and took a bath. The accused then kept a watch at the victims’ house for some time anticipating that the LPG cylinder, will catch flames, police added.