The body of the 10-year-old missing son of bhajan singer Ajay Pathak, who was found dead along with his wife and daughter at their home in Shamli district on Tuesday, was recovered from a car in Panipat, Haryana, police said on Wednesday. Pathak, 42, his wife Sneha, 36, and their daughter Vasundhara, 17, were killed with a sharp-edged weapon by accused Himanshu Saini, 25, at the victims’ house in Punjabi Colony on Monday night, they said.
Saini was caught on Wednesday morning while trying to run away after dousing the singer’s car with petrol and setting it on fire near Panipat toll plaza, said police. The boy’s body was found inside the burning car, they said.
Revealing details of the crime during a press conference in Shamli on Wednesday, additional superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar Srivastava said, “Body of Ajay Pathak’s son, Bhagwat, was found dumped inside their car that had been set on fire near Panipat toll plaza.”
He said that the accused was a disciple of the singer.
“Mobile phones of the victims, the murder weapon (‘kripan’) and blood stained clothes were also recovered from Saini. He had killed the boy and other victims on the same night (Monday),” said the ASP.
Superintendent of police (Shamli) Vineet Jaiswal said that Saini often visited the family. “During interrogation, Saini said that he was going through a bad phase, financially. He claimed that he had lent around Rs 60,000 to Pathak in small instalments but whenever he asked the singer to return the money, he was humiliated. He said not a single penny was returned to him,” said Jaiswal.
{{/usCountry}}Superintendent of police (Shamli) Vineet Jaiswal said that Saini often visited the family. “During interrogation, Saini said that he was going through a bad phase, financially. He claimed that he had lent around Rs 60,000 to Pathak in small instalments but whenever he asked the singer to return the money, he was humiliated. He said not a single penny was returned to him,” said Jaiswal.
{{/usCountry}}The SP said that according to Pathak’s neighbours, the last person seen entering the victims’ house was Saini. “He had dinner with the family after which he reportedly again asked Pathak for his money but was insulted,” said Jaiwal.
The SP said that Saini used the ‘kripan’ that Pathak kept at his house to murder the family after which he fled the place in the victim’s car, taking away Bhagwat’s body.
“Saini said the Pathaks were supposed to leave for Karnal, Haryana, on Tuesday. He said he decided to take away one body at a time and dispose of it, so that people in the neighbourhood would think that the family had not returned from Karnal,” shared ASP Srivastava.
The murders came to light on Tuesday evening when neighbours and the victims’ kin, who live close by, suspected something amiss after not seeing any activity in their house the whole day, said police. When they broke open the door, they saw the bodies of Pathak, his wife and daughter. The throats of all three were slit.
Soon after that an FIR of murder was registered at the Adarshmandi police station of Shamli. Later, the charge of attempting to destroy evidence was also slapped against the accused, said police.