Man, wife stabbed by mason couple over money dispute in Indirapuram

The injured, Ravikant Sharma, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Geeta Sharma, were alone in their home when the incident occurred at 1.30pm

A 55-year-old man and his 53-year-old wife were allegedly stabbed and injured at their home in the Abhay Khand I pocket of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad by a husband-wife couple who previously worked with them as masons.

Investigators at the Sharma home in Abhay Khand 1 in Indirapuram in Ghaziabad on Thursday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

According to police officers, the suspects fled the scene after injuring the couple.

The injured, Ravikant Sharma, a chartered accountant, and his wife, Geeta Sharma, were alone in their home when the incident occurred at 1.30pm.

According to investigators, the unidentified suspects had come to Sharma’s house for work.

“During a disagreement over a previous payment, the suspects stabbed and injured Sharma and his wife. When we learned about the incident, we took the contractor, Sri Ram, who hired the suspects to work at Sharma’s house, in for questioning,” said Swatantra Dev Singh, assistant commissioner of police (Indirapuram).

The two suspects are said to be neighbours of Sri Ram in Khoda Colony.

According to investigators familiar with the case, the incident occurred in the house’s drawing room. Investigators said the suspects stabbed the couple in the abdomen and hit Sharma on the head with a hammer before fleeing after latching the room door from outside.

Abha Mittal, Sharma’s neighbour, said, “My husband received a call from Sharma saying he and his wife had been stabbed. So he hurried over to their house and unlatched the front door. The two were badly hurt, and there was a lot of blood in the room.”

Rahul Kumar, another neighbour, said that he also rushed to Sharma’s house with the other neighbours after hearing the commotion.

“In the drawing room, Sharma was awake while his wife was unconscious. So we drove them to the hospital,” he said.

The police said they are looking into whether or not there was a robbery attempt behind the incident.

“The suspects had come to my house 20 days ago with the contractor, Sri Ram. They repaired our leaky roof. We noticed the two suspects sitting outside Sharma’s house on Thursday afternoon. After a while, my husband received a call from our injured neighbour,” said Mittal.

Police officers said they are awaiting a formal complaint from Sharma’s family.

The police have formed teams to track the two suspects, and investigators will reveal their identities soon, said officers associated with the case.