Woman, 2 children found murdered at MHC

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 23

A woman and her two children were found murdered at their house at Modern Housing Complex (MHC), Mani Majra, on the intervening night of January 22 and 23. They are suspected to have been murdered by Surinder Singh, aka Sanjay Arora, the victim’s husband and father of the children, who later committed suicide. Sanjay owned Krishna Bakery and Dairy in Sector 9, Panchkula.

The deceased have been identified as Sarita Arora, her daughter Ratna, aka Sanchi (22), a law student at Chandigarh University, and son Arjun (15), who was a Class X student at Satluj Public School, Panchkula.

The bodies of Sarita and Arjun were lying in a pool of blood on the bed in separate rooms. Both bodies had quilts over them. Ratna’s body was lying near the rear door of the house, which is used as an entrance to the house.

Sources said while Sarita and Arjun had slit marks on their neck, Ratna had an injury at the back of her head and on her neck.

Police sources said it was suspected that Surinder first murdered his wife when she was alone in the house on Wednesday. Later in the afternoon, Arjun arrived from school and he was murdered in a separate room. The suspect then waited for his daughter to return from the university, who usually returns around 6 pm, and murdered her. “Since her body was found near the door, we suspect that she tried to run away following which the suspect hit her with a rod on her head due to which she fell there,” the sources said.

The police said the suspect, after committing the crime, went to the nearby railway track and jumped before a train.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) took him to the Civil Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, from where he was referred to the PGI, where he died later.

Surinder’s associate Karamvir, who had taken Krishna Bakery on rent for the past over one year, received a call from the PGI to inform him that Surinder had met with an accident and he was admitted to the Trauma Centre of the PGI.

Karamvir, along with his friend Amit, reached the PGI and found him lying unconscious. Karamvir called at Surinder’s home on their landline number. However, nobody received the call.

Karamvir then reached the MHC, Mani Majra. However, the house was found locked from outside. They peeped inside and saw blood following which the police were informed.

The police broke open the door and found the three lying in a pool of blood. Senior police officials were informed about the incident, who reached the spot and initiated an investigation. A CFSL team and a dog squad also reached the spot to collect evidence.

A knife, which was used to kill the trio, was recovered by the police from the house.

The bodies were shifted to the mortuary at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, in the morning, where the postmortem was conducted and the bodies were handed over to kin. Meanwhile, a case of murder has been registered at the Mani Majra police station.

“All scientific evidence, along with CCTV footage, is being analysed,” said a police official.

The Sector 9 market in Panchkula remained closed on Thursday to mourn the deaths.

The family earlier used to stay in Sector 9, Panchkula. However, nearly a year ago, they had shifted to the MHC in a rented accommodation.

‘Daughter spoke of debt last week’

Victim Sarita’s father Dharampal Ahuja, a resident of Kaithal district, said around a week ago, his daughter had shared that they were under a heavy debt. Dharampal, however, said he had no idea as to how much loan his son-in-law was supposed to return to the bank.

‘Was under Rs 10-cr debt’

One of Surinder’s brothers, Gurcharan Singh, said Surinder was under a debt of around Rs10 crore. “I don’t know much, but there was a loan of around Rs10 crore. Loans were nothing new to us and we have huge property,” he said.

Cops scrutinising CCTV footage

The footage of a CCTV camera installed outside the house has been collected by the police. The police said they were checking the footage to establish who all visited the house and at what time.

Suicide note found

The police recovered a suicide note from the house, which is being verified for handwriting and authenticity.