Laxmi Nagar triple murder: Son booked, suicide pact angle probed

The accused surrendered at a police station and gave varying accounts, including poisoning sweets and strangulation. Police recovered laddoos and pesticide tablets.

Police on Tuesday said the 25-year-old man who confessed to killing his mother, sister, and 14-year-old brother at their residence in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar has been booked for the murders even as they investigate the possibility that the incident may have been a failed suicide pact.

Officers said two victims collapsed after eating sweets, while the mother was allegedly fed pesticide before all were strangled with a muffler. (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

On Monday, the accused, identified by police as Yashveer Singh, a cab driver by profession, walked into the Laxmi Nagar police station around 5pm and surrendered, investigators said. He confessed to killing his family members due to financial stress and told officers that he had mixed dhatura – a poisonous plant – into the sweets he fed them. However, police said the exact substance used is yet to be confirmed as Singh had been repeatedly changing his statements. He had not been unemployed for the last six months and police said the family had also not paid rent for the last seven months.

On Tuesday, police said Singh is being interrogated and his family has also been questioned.

A senior police officer said, “During interrogation, he broke down and said he convinced his family to end their lives along with him as they were not able to make ends meet.”

Singh told police how his wife had left him on Friday and how he was constantly fighting with his mother and sister over money issues. “He has said that, on Monday morning, he got dhatura from a nearby temple and made eight laddoos. Two for each family member. However, after forcing his family to eat the sweets and strangling them to death, he got scared and did not consume the sweets. He then decided to surrender and went to the police station,” the officer added.

However, police are sceptical about the story and said Singh could have planned and executed the deaths. He has been booked for the murders.

During their investigation, police found two of the laddoos at his house. They have also learnt that while the two siblings collapsed after eating the sweets, his mother did not. “So, he also fed her sulphas (pesticide) tablets. Around 1 pm, he strangled all of them with a muffler. Two packets of the tablets were found inside the house. Singh claimed he also tried to eat the sweets but left it and after several hours of contemplation, he approached the police at 5 pm,” said a second senior police officer.

Investigators also said that, in the past, Singh had pressurised his father, Dharamveer Singh, to transfer the family’s properties to him and then sold them.

“We have been told by family members that Dharamveer owned land in their village. His father initially refused to sell, but Singh had sold some part of the property, worth ₹60 lakh. In 2020-21, he also sold an ancestral house worth ₹1 crore,” said another officer, adding that they were still verifying the claims.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, bodies were handed over to the family after post-mortem.

Speaking to HT, Dharamveer denied that his family was experiencing financial issues, saying, “My son sold our village home near Panipat for 60 lakhs two months ago. He has previously taken crores by selling another property. He would lie about financial problems and then go to high-end restaurants and clubs.”

“I thought everything was fine. I spoke to my wife on Sunday. I had sent Yashveer ₹5,000 on Sunday...I feel he and his wife planned the murders,” he added, without giving details.

Police said that the wife alleged that she left Singh because he was “harassing” her for money.

Jaspal Singh, a relative, said the family had been well off years ago. “Dharamveer owned several properties and Kavita even contested in the sarpanch election in Dharamgarh, Panipat in 2015-16. They had invested a lot of money in those elections.”

Family said Yashveer was into weightlifting and even participated in state level competitions when he was a teenager but left everything after a hand injury in 2017-18.

“He met [his wife] the same year and got married against the family’s wishes. They then moved to Laxmi Nagar in 2020 where his family later joined the couple. He initially started working as a bouncer and a driver. Dharamveer did not live with them as he was also upset about the marriage because [the wife] is from a different community. He rarely visited them,” added Jaspal.