A dacoity-cum-double murder of an octogenarian couple rocked the posh East of Kailash in the wee hours of Friday, according to police. The elderly couple was smothered to death and the house ransacked by the killers who decamped with cash and jewellery, said police.
The murderers gained entry to the ground floor of the three-storied house by breaking open the sliding doors and overpowered Manohar lal Madan (84) a retired bank official and his wife Vimla Madan (80), who were asleep in their bedroom, said police.
The elderly couple’s 19-year-old granddaughter, who was sleeping in the adjoining bedroom when the dacoits struck, had a providential escape as their son Sanjay, who lives on the first floor, heard the commotion and started shouting for help. Hearing his cries, the dacoits fled the spot.
Preliminary investigations by police point towards the involvement of Bangladeshis, who reportedly carried out a detailed survey of the area before targeting the Madans.
“The case is being investigated from all possible angles. A case of robbery and murder has been registered at Amar Colony Police Station,” said DCP (South-East) MS Randhawa.
Special Commissioner of Police (law and Order) Deepak Mishra told The Pioneer, “It appears to be the handiwork of a Bangladeshi gang and police teams have been put on the job to bring the killers to justice”.
While the elderly couple lived on the ground floor their youngest son lives on the first floor with his family and their eldest son Ashwini, who had come home from Mumbai for Diwali, was staying on the top floor. The second son of the Madans lives abroad.
“The robbers tried to break into the first floor also, but Sanjay heard the commotion and raised an alarm,” said Dinesh Mendiratta, a relative of the family. Sanjay, who is a senior consultant with a multinational IT company said he was awakened by a sudden flash of light falling on his face. Then he heard someone running inside the house and went to check on his parents.
“When he reached downstairs, he found that the sliding door to the victims’ room was wide open and they were lying motionless on the bed. Their room had been ransacked. He raised an alarm and called up the police control room,” said a police official.
The couple was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre where they were declared brought dead and their bodies were sent for post-mortem, said police.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the couple was allegedly smothered with something like a pillow. However, the exact cause and time of death can be ascertained only after the police receive the post-mortem report, said a police official, adding though the Madans do not have any domestic help living with them they have a part-time maid. The boundary walls of the house are just five feet high, which is not too difficult to scale, police said. Several teams have been formed and police have obtained CCTV footage from nearby premises, which is being examined.
Police haven’t been able to ascertain what the robbers have taken. They are questioning neighbours and relatives for leads into the probe.