East delhi murders: Bodies lay for days; police identify two suspect

Police said they have identified two suspects, but did not divulge any details about them arguing that it would interfere with the probe

Police are investigating two people for their alleged role in the murders of a 64-year-old woman and her 39-year-old daughter in east Delhi’s Krishna Nagar, said officers, adding that they are probing a range of possible motives, including robbery or a purported property dispute.

Locals stand outside the house where the mother-daughter duo were murdered in Delhi’s Krishna Nagar on late Wednesday night, on Thursday. (Sonu Mehta/HT)

Officers involved in the investigation, relying on CCTV footage, said the two women were killed between 10pm and 11pm on May 25 and that the suspects stayed in the house for roughly half an hour. Police, however, did not divulge any details about the two suspects, arguing that it would interfere with the investigation.

The two women were found murdered, with their throats slit, in their flat on Wednesday evening. The victims’ bodies remained in the first floor three-bedroom flat for a week, going unnoticed till neighbours were thrown off by a foul smell on Wednesday. Police said the two women had little interaction with others in the four-storey building. Police identified the victims as Rajrani Karar (64) and her daughter Ginni Karar (39). Rajrani retired as an artiste with All India Radio. Her husband died in 2011, said police.

Investigators said the woman was “involved in some property disputes,” but added that other motives, including robbery, have still to be ruled out.

Rohit Meena, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara), said, “We are questioning several people, including the two daughters.”

Officers involved in the matter said relations within the family were frayed after disagreements over Rajrani’s inheritance. Rajrani had three daughters, two of whom are settled with their families in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). Ginni, her youngest daughter, a postgraduate in fine arts, suffered from autism and a speech disability, said police. “Her mother had hired a tutor and a speech therapist for her disability,” Meena said. She had made Ginni the legal heir of her three properties Delhi-NCR, said officers.

“Rajrani was not on cordial terms with her two older daughters. She interacted very little with them,” Meena said.

The two shifted to the Krishna Nagar flat from Rohini four years ago and were planning to sell this and move to another house near Nehru Place in south Delhi, said Meena.

Police checked the footage from CCTV cameras in the neighbouring building and identified two suspects entering the house on the night of May 25 and leaving half an hour later. That was the last time anyone entered the flat, police said. However, the DCP added that the exact cause of the murder is still to be ascertained. HT tried to reach out to Rajrani’s two daughters for their response, but was unable to obtain their contact details.

“The residents of the building had a discussion among ourselves before alerting the police,” said Manoj, a resident who lives on another floor.

Police received a call from one of the residentsat 8pm. They reached the building within a few minutes of the call, smashed a window to look into the house and spotted the bodies inside. Rajrani’s body was found on the drawing room floor and Ginni’s in a hall near the kitchen. The bodies, a week old, were decomposing, said officers. Their throats appeared to be slit using a sharp weapon, they said, adding that it was “difficult to comment on the precise nature of the injuries” because of the decay. DCP Meena said the autopsy will be conducted on Friday.

The drawers had been opened and checked, but police were still to ascertain if any valuables were missing, and did not rule out the possibility that the house was ransacked to mislead investigations.

Meena said evidence on the spot suggested the role of people acquainted with the victims.

“The building has a video buzzer system to allow people inside and the building had a security guard. Even the flat had two sets of doors. The murderers had to be acquainted with the victim,” he said.

The outer door was latched from the outside and the inner one was shut as well, said police. Several teams have been sent to different cities to pin the suspects, Meena said, but added that the most definitive clues suggested that at least one of them is in Lucknow.