2 house helps found dead in four-storey Jangpura home in Delhi

The victims were found in two separate rooms – on the ground and first floors of the 4-storey building – by their employer in the morning

Two domestic helps were found murdered inside a four-storey house in K-Block in Jangpura extension on Monday morning, following which police are on the lookout for five masked me who reportedly went in the direction of the house the night before. Investigators have not established the motive behind the crime.

Police are on the lookout for five masked me who reportedly went in the direction of the house on Sunday night. (Picture for representation only)

Police said the victims were found in two separate rooms – on the ground and first floors of the four-storey building – by their employer, who lives with her family in the building, at around 9.45am.

Delhi police did not officially comment on how the two women were murdered but an officer, who asked not to be named, said that the hands and legs of one of the two women was tied up, and expressed suspicion that she may have been strangled. The second woman, found dead on the first floor, was not tied up, said the officer.

Police suspect the victims -- Mina Rai (35) and Sujala (40), both from Darjeeling in West Bengal -- were either strangled or may have been poisoned by the masked men, who have been spotted in two CCTV cameras, in the K Block of the Jangpura Extension area.

Police are currently questioning the security guards who reportedly claimed that the five men were carrying large bags.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said the incident came light at around 9.30am when the family’ sdog trainer knocked the door of building in K-42 in Jangpura Extension, where the two women worked, but found no response. “He called the building owner and told her that nobody was opening the door. She (employer) came down, opened the door for him and then went to check on the domestic helps. They found one of the victims on the ground floor... and the other on the first floor,” said the neighbour.

Police said that the family, which owns the building, runs an office and shop in the ground floor. A second officer, who wished not to be identified, said the suspects took away the hard disk of the CCTV camera from the house. “The security guards have claimed to have seen five men carrying bags walking in the colony at around 4am. The security guard thought they were residents and did not stop them. The CCTV cameras from other locations in the colony show 4-5 men wearing masks, entering the colony and walking towards the building,” said the officer.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-east) Esha Goel confirmed that a murder case has been registered but did not share the details.

On Monday evening, the Jangpura Extension Welfare Association(JEWA) shared an advisory on their WhatsApp groups. “...it is imperative that we start taking security seriously,” said a message on the colony’s WhatsApp group by Kapil Kakkar, president of the association