Double murder in Sultanpur: Educator couple hacked to death on school campus

Police probing possible links to a teachers’ union election and an alleged family land dispute;officials questioning school staff, villagers and relatives

LUCKNOW A government school principal and his wife were hacked to death on Monday night on the campus of a private school they founded in UP’s Sultanpur district, police said on Tuesday. The police were probing possible links to a teachers’ union election and an alleged family land dispute.

The couple lived on the school campus while also looking after their ancestral house about a kilometre away. (Pic for representation)

The deceased were identified as Mukesh Singh, 45, principal at Composite School, Khanuhat, and his wife Vinita Singh, 43. Both victims appeared to have been attacked with sharp-edged weapons. A blood-stained spade was found near Vinita’s body, while an axe and a knife were also recovered from the premises. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination, said police.

“Information was received on Tuesday morning about the bodies of a husband and wife. Several teams have been formed and are working on the case. We are also in contact with the family and the case will be worked out soon,” said Sultanpur SP Vineet Jaiswal.

The killings came to light when a school bus driver and teacher arrived to collect the vehicle keys. “While heading towards the office, they spotted Vinita’s body inside a room. They alerted a domestic worker and others before finding Mukesh’s body about 150 metres away,” Kadipur CO Vinay Gautam informed.

Mukesh was posted at the composite school in Khanuhat and had been associated with the teachers’ union since 2013. He was contesting the block teachers’ union election, with polling scheduled for September 30. The election was postponed on September 28.

Police were examining whether the election could have triggered a dispute. Vinita had also contested the previous district panchayat election. A second line of inquiry relates to the family’s ancestral property. The family owns around 35 bighas of land in the village and police were verifying local accounts of any dispute over the property.

Investigators were also examining the possibility that Vinita was attacked inside the school room and Mukesh fled after the assault, only to be chased and killed around 150 metres away. However, police had not yet established the sequence of events or the motive.

Mukesh had started his career as a shiksha mitra before becoming an assistant teacher in 2009. Vinita had established the private school in 2002. The institution has around 550 students and 17 teachers and employees.

The couple lived on the school campus while also looking after their ancestral house about a kilometre away. Their only son, Abhyuday, 20, a Delhi University student, had left for Sultanpur after being informed of the killings.

Police teams were questioning school staff, villagers and relatives and examining evidence collected from the crime scene as the investigation continued.