Stepdaughter killed, ₹25 lakh cash looted from ayurveda doctor’s Greater Noida home

The family members have raised suspicions about a local man who has been taken into custody for questioning, police said

A 14-year-old stepdaughter of a Noida ayurveda doctor was murdered and ₹25 lakh was allegedly looted from his home in Greater Noida on Tuesday afternoon, police said, adding that the girl was alone at home while her parents had gone to their clinic with their two younger children.

According to deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida) Anil Kumar Yadav, Shilpi was the daughter of the doctor’s wife from her first marriage. (Representative Image)

According to the police, the doctor, Sudarshan Bairagi, hails from Meerut district and currently resides in Saraswati Enclave in Purana Sutiyana village under Ecotech -3 police station. He left for his clinic in Sector 93 in the morning along with his wife and two toddler sons.

According to deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida) Anil Kumar Yadav, Shilpi was the daughter of the doctor’s wife from her first marriage.

“Bairagi has two sons, aged two and four years, from his wife Sujata, whose name before marriage was Saiba. On Tuesday, around 11am, the couple left their home with the two sons. As per their statements, Bairagi had to go to his clinic in Sector 93 and also had to buy a new phone for his wife as the old one had broken on Monday. Since the two sons are toddlers, the couple took them along,” said Yadav.

“Bairagi’s stepdaughter, Shilpi, was alone at home. Around 1.30pm when the family returned home, they found Shilpi unresponsive with a cloth tied around her neck. She was taken to a private hospital in Noida where she was declared dead on arrival,” said Yadav.

Bairagi informed police that ₹25 lakh cash was missing from their home and the house was ransacked.

DCP Yadav said according to Bairagi’s complaint, he received a payment of ₹23.5 lakh in cash after the sale of a plot. A partial payment was done in cash, of which ₹23.5 lakh was brought home recently. In addition to that, about ₹1.5 lakh cash was kept in the home as well. In all, Bairagi reported ₹25 lakh missing from his home, said the DCP.

“However, when we cross verified the sale, we found that Bairagi had sold the plot for around ₹14 lakh of which only ₹5 lakh was given to him in cash. There are several other inconsistences in Bairagi’s statements,” said the officer.

He added that the family members have raised suspicions about a local man who has been taken into custody for questioning.

“The family members said a person from the nearby village was aware that a large amount of cash was kept at home,” Yadav said.

He added that on the basis of Bairagi’s complaint, an FIR against a man named Pradeep, a native of Meerut, has been registered at the Ecotech-3 police station.