Man admits to killing 5 of his family over 20 yrs to secure property for son

According to the police, the man and his accomplices allegedly abducted his nephew Reshu Tyagi, 24, on August 8 this year, strangled him to death in the car and dumped his body in a canal in Pahasu area of Bulandshahr the same day

A 45-year-old man, arrested on Thursday for the abduction and murder of his nephew has allegedly admitted to the police that he also killed four other members of his immediate family over the past 20 years in a bid to secure the ancestral property for his 19-year-old son.

Suspect Leelu Tyagi (in green T-shirt) is a resident of Basantpur Saithli in Muradnagar. (Sourced)

Police identified that man as Leelu Tyagi, a resident of Basantpur Saithli village in Muradnagar.

According to the police, Tyagi and his accomplices allegedly abducted his nephew Reshu Tyagi, 24, on August 8, strangled him to death in the car and dumped his body in a canal in Pahasu area of Bulandshahr the same day.

Reshu’s family filed a missing person complaint on August 15. Later, convinced that he had been abducted and killed, they registered an FIR for abduction and murder on September 22.

“Tyagi kept telling the family that Reshu was upset and may have gone somewhere on his own. He tried to dissuade the family from filing a police complaint. During the investigation, villagers told us that other members of the Tyagi family had died mysteriously,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of police (rural).

Police said they arrested Tyagi and two others on Thursday in connection with Reshu’s murder, and during questioning, Tyagi admitted that he also got his older brother Sudhir Tyagi killed in 2001 using contract killers. He then told the rest of the family that Sudhir had abandoned them.

“Tyagi said after he got Sudhit killed, he married his sister-in-law (Sudhir’s wife) the same year. He told us that he then murdered both of Sudhir’s daughters. He said he poisoned and killed the youngest daughter, aged 8 years, in 2006, while the oldest one, aged 16 years, was poisoned to death in 2009, and her body dumped in a river,” the SP said .

“Tyagi said he also killed the eight-year-old son of his other brother Brijesh in 2013 by strangling him and dumping his body in a river. In August, he committed the fifth murder, that of Brijesh’s 24-year-old son Reshu,” Raja said.

The police said Tyagi allegedly told the family that the girls had died of insect bites, and also convinced them that the boy had run away from home.

“In all previous cases, he exerted his influence over the family and did not allow FIRs to be lodged. He told us he wanted to control of the ancestral property (estimated to be worth about ₹15-20 crore), and so he killed all heirs. He said he wanted his only son to inherit the property after him,” Raja said.

Speaking to media persons at the Muradnagar police station, Tyagi said, “We have about 16 bighas of land and other property in the name of my wife, who was earlier married to my older brother Sudhir. I killed his daughters to avoid the expense of their weddings. I wanted my only son to inherit all the property.”

Brijesh said the entire family is yet to come to terms with the shocking revelations.

“I never expected that my brother would murder our family. He was taking care of the entire family and we never suspected anything... My wife is in a state of shock; we now know both our sons were murdered. I believe he may have wanted to kill me as well,” he said.