Pataudi mass murders: Second suspect identified

The police who are yet to find the murder weapon, are conducting raids in nearby villages and checking the call detail records of the accused to collect evidence.

The police, on Friday, said they have identified a suspect allegedly involved in the murder of four members of a family in Brijpura village of Pataudi on Wednesday. He has been missing from the village since the bodies of the deceased were cremated on Thursday, the police said.

The police have formed a four-member special investigation team (SIT) under the deputy commissioner of police, Manesar, to probe the murders. (PArveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Twenty-nine-year-old Manish Gaur, his mother Phoolwati (61), wife Pinky (23) and one-year-old daughter were found murdered on Wednesday. Gaur’s three-year-old son is the lone survivor and a witness in the case, the police said.

The second suspect, the police said, is related to Gaur.

“He was there at the crime spot when the police team went there and the villagers said his clothes were stained with blood. He had taken a bath and washed his clothes, which caused doubts, and we had detained him overnight,” said police commissioner K K Rao.

“We let him go as he was heavily intoxicated and we could not establish his involvement in the crime at that time. After an initial investigation, it has been found that he was constantly in touch with the main accused, who is suspected to be his friend,” Rao said.

The police refused to share the name of either accused, but said he allegedly made a phone call to his father-in-law on Thursday and his phone has remained switched off since. Based on technical surveillance, his location on the day of the murders was found to be near Gaur’s house between noon and 3pm, the police said.

The main accused, who is a cousin of Gaur’s wife, was arrested by the police on Wednesday night after Gaur’s son told the police that he had allegedly hit his father and grandmother. The neighbours had seen him exiting the residence around 3pm and their statements were recorded by the police on Wednesday.

On Friday, the police formed a four-member special investigation team (SIT) under the deputy commissioner of police, Manesar, to probe the incident. The police said that four teams of the crime investigation agency are trying to trace the second suspect.

Rao said that the main accused has not yet revealed the exact sequence of events and has been changing his statements to mislead the police. The SIT is likely to question family members, relatives, villagers and the milkman who had spotted the bodies on Wednesday, the police said.

The police are conducting raids in nearby villages and checking the call detail records of the accused to collect evidence. The police haven’t found the sharp-edged weapon that was used in the murders.

The police are on the lookout for two weapons, as the post-mortem examination of the bodies revealed two types of injuries