Triple murder: Colony kids noticed dadi’s absence after they did not get prasad

The children of the area noticed the absence of the family members of Chaman Lal after Surjit Kaur did not visit a shrine for the past three days

The triple murder in the New Janakpuri area of Salem Tabri in Ludhiana on Friday morning sent shock waves among the residents. The police said the victims, Chaman Lal, 70, his wife Bachan Kaur, 67, and mother Surjit Kaur, 90, were hacked to death with sharp-edged weapons.

Kin of victims mourn their death in Ludhiana. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The children of the area noticed the absence of the family members of Chaman Lal after Surjit Kaur did not visit a shrine for the past three days. The children had made the rounds of their house but returned after finding the gate locked from inside.

According to locals, the children had enquired from the neighbours about Surjit, popularly known as ‘dadi ji’ among the children of the locality. The neighbours assumed that they might have gone out of station. They asked the children to come again after two-three days.

A shrine (tomb) is built in front of the house of the victims. A few months ago, the priest of the shrine had gone somewhere. Since then, Surjit used to take care of it and used to light oil lamps and burn incense sticks. She used to cook sweet dishes every Thursday and distribute the same among the children visiting the shrine as ‘prasad’.

Narotam Ram, a local, said that he was a regular visitor at the shrine. They had not seen Surjit since Tuesday. He assumed that she might be ill due to old age. They went to her home to see her. As the gate was locked, they returned assuming that she might have gone somewhere.

Arun Kumar, another local, stated that Surjit never missed cooking and distributing sweet dishes on Thursdays and when she did not come, they assumed that something serious had happened. On Friday, when they found that three of the family were murdered, they were shocked.

He added that the family members were down to earth and never indulged in verbal spat with anyone. The locals said that the family was quite social.