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Woman, three grandchildren’s bullet-riddled bodies found in Panchkula house
68-year-old woman and her three grandchildren killed at their house, police suspect property-related issue behind murders.
Bullet-ridden bodies of a 68-year-old woman and her three grandchildren were found at their house in Khatauli village, 30km from Panchkula, on Saturday.
Police suspect a property-related issue behind the killings, which were executed on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
The deceased are Rajbala, her granddaughter Aishwarya, 18, and grandsons Divyanshu,16 and Vansh,12. Aishwarya studied at a college in Raipur Rani and her brothers were school students.
The incident came to light after a neighbour, Monu, found the family’s pet dog in an unconscious state on Saturday morning. He alerted Rajbala’s brother Suresh Pal, who came to enquire the matter and found the bodies lying separately in the house.
“Preliminarily probe hints at the involvement of someone known to the family as there was no sign of forced entry or robbery,” Panchkula deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Abhishek Jorwal said.
He said while they were investigating the case from all possible angles, greed for property cannot be ruled out as Rajbala owned more than 60 acre land.
As per people close to the family, Rajbala had recently received a heavy compensation from government against acquisition of their property in and around Panchkula.
9 cartridges recovered, weapons illegal
DCP Abhishek Jorwa said they have recovered nine cartridges from the spot and sent them for forensic examination. He said the weapons used in crime were illegal.
Shot at close range
The injury marks on victims’ bodies suggested that they were shot dead at close range. The postmortem report is awaited.
Though the house is in the heart of the village, no neighbour claimed to have heard any gunshot even as police said multiple rounds were fired.
Handiwork of more than one person: Police
Police suspect at least four people executed the murder in a calculated and precise manner.
The inner part of the house has been sealed for the dog squad and fingerprint experts to gather evidences. Mobile call data dump has also been recovered.
A family with chequered past
Rajbala’s son and father of the murdered children, Umander Rana, had committed suicide few years ago, but speculations run rife that he was killed.
Then her daughter-in-law, Sudha, went missing in 2016 and there is still no clue about her whereabouts. Rajbala’s husband also passed away in the meantime.
The lone survivor
The sole survivor in the family is 13-year-old Shally, third of the four grandchildren of Rajbala.
She lived with one of her four paternal aunts in Baltana near Zirakpur, where she studied at a private school.
