Senior citizen couple murdered at Ghaziabad home on Diwali night

Unidentified assailants entered the house of a senior citizen couple in the Patel Nagar 2 locality of Ghaziabad and killed them while their neighbours were celebrating the festival of Diwali

Unidentified assailants entered the house of a senior citizen couple in the Patel Nagar 2 locality of Ghaziabad and killed them while their neighbours were celebrating the festival of Diwali. The police said that it could be a case of personal enmity or dispute but not robbery as valuables in the house were found intact.

Ghaziabad, India - November 05, 2021: A view of crime scene involving a double murder, at Patel Nagar, in Ghaziabad, India, on Friday, November 05, 2021. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

Police identified the two victims as Ashok Jaidka, 72, and his wife Madhu Jaidka, 70, who lived by themselves in a ground-floor flat.

According to police, footage from CCTV cameras shows that two men entered the victims’ house around 8.45pm on Thursday and left within a span of five minutes.

“The body of the woman was found near the main door while the man was found dead in bed as he was bed-ridden after suffering a paralytic attack. The nature of injuries (on the heads) of both the victims initially suggested gunshot wounds. But the autopsy revealed they were attacked by a hard, blunt object. The house was not broken into, and their valuables, including the jewellery worn by the woman, were found intact,” said Nipun Agarwal, superintendent of police (city 1).

Police said they received information about the couple around 1am on Friday after the daughter of the victims, who lives in Noida, called for help.

“She had been calling up her parents on Diwali but they did not pick the phone. So, she called up a local washerman, who visited the house and found the couple dead. She then called the police. It seems to be a planned murder and it could be due to some personal enmity or any dispute. We have formed several teams to trace the suspects,” the SP said, adding that the couple’s daughters live in Noida and Pune.

The police said that the assailants probably chose the night of Diwali so that the neighbours would be busy celebrating Diwali.

They added that one of the two men seen entering the house had put on a face mask while the other did not. The police also suspect that a third person kept watch outside the house.

On the basis of the complaint given by the family, the police registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder) against unidentified persons at Sihani Gate police station.