Cook flees with valuables after drugging household - Hindustan Times
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Cook flees with valuables after drugging household

By, Gurugram
Mar 19, 2023 12:03 AM IST

An FIR has been lodged against the cook, identified as Vinod alias Deepak Nandan, 30, who hails from Nepal, at the Shivaji Nagar police station, police said, adding that the suspect is on the run and efforts are on to trace him

Five persons -- an elderly couple and their three domestic helps -- were found unconscious at their home in Shivaji Nagar, allegedly after their recently hired cook fed them food laced with poison on Friday night and made off with cash and valuables from the house, police said Saturday.

The house of the couple, who hired the cook on March 5. The cook is yet to be arrested, police said. (Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)
The house of the couple, who hired the cook on March 5. The cook is yet to be arrested, police said. (Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

An FIR has been lodged against the cook, identified as Vinod alias Deepak Nandan, 30, who hails from Nepal, at the Shivaji Nagar police station, police said, adding that the suspect is on the run and efforts are on to trace him.

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The couple, Mahesh Raghav and Madhu Raghav, who police said are in their late fifties or early sixties, and three domestic helps are undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Their condition is stable, officers said.

The incident came to fore on Friday night after the couple’s son, who was travelling, called his parents and the calls went unanswered.

Ankit Raghav, 40, said he called his parents repeatedly between 4.40pm and 4.45pm Friday. But when they did not answer, he asked his cousin, who lives nearby, to check on them. “My cousin found all five lying unconscious and the cook missing.The house was ransacked and cash and valuables were missing. He alerted the police and called a doctor from the nearest private hospital,” Raghav said.

Police are yet to verify the details and identities of the other victims.

Quoting the doctor who treated them, police said all of five people were given a poison, the nature of which is yet to specified, as well as a medical intoxicant.

Ankit Raghav said the cook was hired on March 5. “He was the only one who was not there. The safety lockers were found broke open. We suspect that the cook called his friends and planned the robbery. We are not yet sure as to what kind of sedatives or poison was given to my parents and the domestic helps,” Raghav said.

A case under sections 328 (causing harm through the use of poison) , 380 (theft), 381 theft by clerk or servant), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Nandan, said police.

Deepak Saharan, deputy commissioner of police, said investigation in the case is underway and they are scanning the CCTV footage from near the house. “We are waiting to record the statements of the victims and food samples have been recovered from the spot and sent for testing. The cook has been identified and our teams have been deployed to arrest him,” he said.

The officer said they are verifying whether the elderly couple had got the cook police verified before employing him and whether he was hired through a placement agency. “We are also questioning neighbours and shopkeepers in the area,” the DCP said.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Leena Dhankhar has worked with Hindustan Times for five years. She has covered crime, traffic and excise. She now reports on civic issues and grievances of residents.

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