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Taloja murder-suicide case: Cops trace kin; tissue samples of 4 sent to FSL
Police have traced the brother of a 35-year-old online trader who allegedly killed himself after strangling his wife and two children at their rented apartment in
Police have traced the brother of a 35-year-old online trader who allegedly killed himself after strangling his wife and two children at their rented apartment in Taloja. They have also sent tissue samples of all four deceased to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Kalina to confirm the cause of death.
The bodies of the trader, his 30-year-old wife and their daughter aged eight, and son aged seven, were discovered in a decomposed state on Saturday. Police suspect the family died on or after January 2, as the two children had attended school on that day.
“We sent tissue and bone samples to the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory, and collected other pieces of evidence from the house. However, the autopsies of the bodies have not revealed much. We will record statements of their neighbours for more clues,” said Kashinath Chavan, senior inspector at Taloja police station.
Police officers traced the trader’s younger brother in Delhi with the help of the Delhi Police. Police will record the brother’s statement upon his arrival in Navi Mumbai as it may reveal if the deceased was going through financial duress or personal issues.
The deaths came to light after the landlord of the flat, where the family lived since September 2019, visited the apartment to collect pending rent for the past two months. The landlord had sent reminders to the man’s phone on the eighth of both the months, but they were not marked ‘seen’. The deceased’s last ‘last seen’ status was dated December 28.
“His profile picture on the app was also disturbing. It had an image depicting ‘Death’ asking a last wish with a response saying, ‘You are Late’. They [the family] barely interacted with anyone except for courteous greetings. The occupants of the other three apartments on their floor did not smell anything [decomposing bodies] as they [the neighbours] would remain outside almost all day,” the chairman of the housing society said.
The society also checked footages of the 48 CCTV cameras but found no clues as the system keeps a backup of only 15 days.
