Noida: Phones sent for forensic exam in Sector 107 deaths

“It appears that the shot was fired from point blank,” said a police officer, adding that the police had searched their car but not founding anything suspicious

A day after a 32-year-old man reportedly shot dead a 26-year-old woman he was allegedly in a relationship before killing himself inside a locked car in Noida’s Sector 107, investigators aware of the developments on Sunday said that a post-mortem report has confirmed that they died of bullet injuries.

The last rites of the two were conducted on Sunday separately. Both were youngest in their families. (HT Photo)

“It appears that the shot was fired from point blank,” said a police officer, adding that the police had searched their car but not founding anything suspicious. However, police have yet to establish if this was a suicide pact, or a murder-suicide. Their mobile phones, which were found to be in airplane mode, have been sent for forensic examination, the officer said.

The bodies were found by a sanitation worker around 11.30am on Saturday inside a parked Tata Altroz. A pistol was found in the man’s right hand and both of them, sitting in the front seats, had gunshot wounds on their heads from right to left, police had said, adding that there had been no signs of a struggle. Their bodies had been retrieved after breaking the rear window of the car.

The man, a resident of Trilokpuri in Delhi, was a businessman, and the woman, a resident of Sector 101 in Noida, who worked in Noida Sector 62.

Police had said that the two had known each other for 15 years and suspect man had decided to end his life after she decided to marry another man under familial pressure. “Investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause behind the incident,” said additional deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Manisha Singh.

While there was no CCTV footage near the accident spot, barely 2km from the woman’s home, police on Sunday said they had retrieved footage of the woman leaving her office on foot on Friday at 6.30pm.

According to what police have established so far, she was likely picked up from her office by the man, as per usual, Around 7pm she told her mother she was on her way home, but when neither of them returned home, their families started looking for them.

Speaking to HT, the families on Sunday said they had no idea what led to the incident and did not see any usual behaviour in the days or, even hours, prior.

The man’s brother said his family had been in favour of the marriage but the woman’s family had raised the issue of caste differences.

The woman’s father denied this. “There is no specific reason behind the denial. At present, we were not ready for her marriage.”

“We don’t know what happened between them in the final moment,” he added.

On Saturday night, following the post-mortem procedure, police handed over the bodies to their families.

The brother of the man said they did not inform his mother till 10:30 am on Sunday morning, worried about how she would deal with the shock.

The last rites of the two were conducted on Sunday separately. Both were youngest in their families. The man is survived by his parents, two siblings, including an elder brother and a sister, while the woman is survived by her parents and two elder sisters.