Man was planning his family’s murder for a week: Police - Hindustan Times
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Man was planning his family’s murder for a week: Police

ByAnvit Srivastava
Jun 22, 2019 09:45 PM IST

Police said after his arrest, Shukla told them that the butcher’s knife he had used in the crime was bought from a local market in Mehrauli Tuesday.

After arresting Upender Shukla, a private tutor, on charges of murdering his family that included his wife, seven-year-old daughter, five-year-old son and 40-day-old daughter, police said Shukla had been planning to kill his family for the past one week.

Image for representation(AFP file photo)
Image for representation(AFP file photo)

Police said after his arrest, Shukla told them that the butcher’s knife he had used in the crime was bought from a local market in Mehrauli Tuesday.

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“Hours before the murder, on Friday evening, he bought sleeping pills and two litres of milk, which he made his children and wife consume on Friday night. After killing everyone, the man allegedly spent hours writing confession notes while seated next to the bodies in the bedroom,” joint commissioner of police Devesh Srivastava said.

“He said since his mother-in-law was living with them during the pregnancy and birth of their third child, he feared that she might wake up if there was a struggle. So, he bought three strips of sleeping pills from a local chemist on Friday afternoon,” the officer said, requesting not to be identified.

He said in the evening, Shukla bought milk from a shop near his house. “Around midnight, after his mother-in-law fell asleep, and his children and wife were about to go to bed, he offered them each a glass of milk laced with sleeping pills, the officer said.

He said after ensuring that the children and wife, Archana, were asleep, he latched the room from inside around 1am and slit their throats. “As his family bled to death, Shukla said he wept for some time. He spent the rest of the time writing confession notes stating his reasons for the killing,” the officer said.

Shukla’s neighbour, Deepak Agarwal, who runs the shop from where he bought milk, said Shukla seemed “absolutely fine” when he came to his shop. “He came around 4.30pm and bought two litres milk and biscuits. Around 9pm, his children came to my shop to buy toffees. Everything seemed normal,” Agarwal said.

He said he had known Shukla for the past six years. He said Shukla’s thrid child, a son, was born on May 12 and was yet to be named.

Commenting on the family’s finances, the shopkeeper said Shukla bought their monthly ration from him and never requested any credit. “I think the family was doing well. Shukla has never had any argument or fight with anyone in this colony. It is hard to imagine him killing his family,” Agarwal said.

Shukla’s neighbour Surender Kumar, a retired Delhi Transport Corporation inspector, who also owns a flat on the same floor where he lived, said the police checked the CCTV cameras installed nearby and no outsider was seen entering or leaving the house.

The murders came to fore after the mother-in-law on not getting any response from the bedroom in the morning, sought their neighbours’ help. They in turn informed the police who came and broke open the bedroom door to find Shukla sitting with the bodies.

“The policemen brought Shukla and his mother-in-law down from the flat. While the woman seemed to be in a state of shock, Shukla remained silent,” Kumar said.

Police said the couple got married nine years ago. Police said Shukla has completed his schooling from Bihar and did his graduation in 2006 from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Russian language. He then became a tutor and used to teach physics and chemistry to students of class 9 and 10 and mathematics and chemistry to students of class 11 and 12.

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