Retired professor, wife hacked to death in Ara

Bhojpur superintendent of police (SP) Pramod Kumar said Mahendra Prasad’s body was found in his dining room while the body of his wife was found in her bedroom. He said the two, prima facie, were hacked to death by sharp-edged objects.

A retired professor and his wife, also a retired college teacher, were found hacked to death at their residence in Bihar’s Ara town, police said.

Earlier in the day, the SP had told HT that prima facie, it seemed the crime was committed by a domestic help of the couple with a motive to commit theft. (Picture for representation)

While Mahendra Prasad Singh was a professor and dean of students’ welfare at Veer Kunwar Singh University (VKSU), his wife Pushpa Singh was head of psychology department at M M Mahila College in the town.

Mahendra Prasad was also the former state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and had contested the elections from the Karakat assembly constituency in early 1990s.

The couple had three daughters, all married.

Police said the reason behind the alleged murder was yet to be ascertained.

Bhojpur superintendent of police (SP) Pramod Kumar said Prasad’s body was found in his dining room while the body of his wife was found in her bedroom. He said the two, prima facie, were hacked to death by sharp-edged objects.

According to police, they got to know about the incident after one of their daughters, a resident of Lucknow, asked their relatives to check on the couple as they were not answering calls. When the relatives reached the professor’s house on Monday night, they found the house door open and the couple dead.

“A CCTV footage shows three persons going towards the professor’s house on Monday evening. Two of them had their faces covered. We are further scrutinising the CCTV footage for details,” the SP said.

Earlier in the day, the SP had told HT that prima facie, it seemed the crime was committed by a domestic help of the couple with a motive to commit theft. “The help was seen in the CCTV footage coming out of the house with a small bag,” he said.

Mahendra Prasad Singh’s younger brother Hira Prasad Singh, who retired as head of the post-graduate department of history at VKSU on January 31, said he had last talked to his “bhabhi” (Pushpa Singh) on January 26. “Later, when they did not respond to calls, we reached their house and found both dead. Police had already reached there by then,” said Hira Prasad, adding that they had no enmity with anyone.