Delhi: ‘Baba’ among 8 people being probed by police

Police are questioning eight individuals, including a "baba," linked to the suspicious deaths of three people found in a parked car in Delhi, suspected poisoning.

Police on Tuesday said they are in the process of questioning at least eight people in connection with the death of the three people whose bodies were found inside a parked on the Peeragarhi flyover in outer Delhi two days ago, including a “baba” who was allegedly the last person to sit in the car before the incident and has been linked with a similar death in Uttar Pradesh.

On Monday, investigators had said they had found evidence of poison on a bottle and some glasses, (Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times)

On Sunday, the bodies of the two men — a 76-year-old in the driver’s seat and a 47-year-old property dealer in the passenger’s seat — and the 40-year-old woman, who was sitting in the back seat, were found inside a white Tigor around 3:50 pm after passing motorists informed police about the parked in the service lane of the flyover. Police have already established the identities of three victims and suspect that deaths are linked to poisoning. However, the exact sequence of events had been unclear till now.

A senior officer on Tuesday said that scanning over 100 CCTV cameras installed on the routes to the Peeragarhi flyover and questioning eight people the three victims had met in various parts of the city on the day of the incident has helped police establish that the two men left in the car from Baprola village, where they were residents, and were joined by the woman in Jahangirpuri, where she lived. There, they also interacted with the woman’s husband.

“The three then sat in the car and reached northeast Delhi’s Khajoori Khas from where they picked up the baba. He was the last person in the car with them and we are questioning him,” the officer said, adding that he was maintaining silence not cooperating with police.

The questioning has at least helped confirm that the three victims knew each other and that they had gone together in the car to meet the “baba”, who, according to the officer, looking at him closely.

Investigators said the elderly man appears to have “doubtful antecedents”.

“He was previously linked with a similar death in UP but got away easily in the absence of sufficient evidence. We are collecting details of that case and other such cases linked to him,” said another officer on condition of anonymity.

The baba allegedly tricked people into believing that he possessed supernatural powers and could double or triple their money, duping them with such illusions, investigators said.

However, the first officer quoted above said, the main challenge before police is to establish whether the victims “knowingly consumed the poison” or if it was “administered by someone with intent to kill them”.

On Monday, investigators had said they had found evidence of poison on a bottle and some glasses, and doctors, after a preliminary exam of one victim, had told him they might have died after ingesting some sort of poison.

The first officer quoted above said police were still waiting for the victims’ autopsy and viscera reports from the forensic lab to know what poisonous substance was found in their bodies. As a result, they have yet to register a first information report (FIR) in the case, investigators aware of the details of the case said.

“A spot inspection revealed that there were no signs of any struggle or that the victims had made any attempts to get out of the car, suggesting that they may have died instantly and around the same time,” the second officer added.