The residents of New Shatabdi Nagar in Ghaziabad woke up in horror, after they heard that a man allegedly killed his wife, three children and then ended his life on Friday morning.
The incident occurred during the wee hours but was known around 8 am on Friday, when the family members informed cops. The police said a suicide note written by the accused Pradeep was found near the bodies. A blood stained hammer was also lying alongside.
The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sudhir Kumar Singh, rushed the to the crime scene after information was relayed to him by the Police Control Room (PCR). The SSP said, “We received information of the incident on our control room on Friday morning. After receiving an SOS call, a patrolling team reached the spot and found the room bolted from inside. Police team broke open the door and found four members were lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood while the wife was breathing slowly. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where during treatment she succumbed.”
The dead persons were identified as Pradeep (41), his daughters Mansvi (8), Yashaswi (5) and Ojaswi (3) and wife Sangeeta (40). The mouth and nose of all were found wrapped with a black coloured tip with four inch width. The parents told the police that Pradeep was working in a private company. Recently he lost his job due to which relations with his wife were strained. Pradeep slipped into depression and started drinking which his wife opposed. This led to frequent quarrels between them.
His wife, Sangeeta was working as staff nurse in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS). Recently she had managed her transfer at Kamla Nehru Nagar in CGO Complex where AIIMS runs a de-addiction hospital.
Pradeep’s father, who had settled in Ghaziabad after retiring from Indian Navy, originally hails from Meerut. His father Pheru, mother Sheela and daughter Reena (Pradeep’s sister) used to live in one bedroom. While Pradeep, his wife Sangeeta and three daughters lived in the other bedroom in which they were found dead.
The father told the police that on Thursday he came home and timely retired to his bedroom along with his three children and wife. When in the morning the room didn’t open, we knocked the door but when we didn’t get any response, we peeped through a window and saw the horrible scene before calling the police, he said.
“The crime scene suggested that Pradeep first administered some poisonous substance to his wife and children. When they started to lose their consciousness, he wrapped their mouth and nose with tape and hit at their heads by hammer which resulted in their death. He then committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance”, the SSP said.
“The bodies have been sent for the autopsy and the details of the case would be revealed after the postmortem examination report is available to us”, added the SSP.