An iron merchant, Jagmeet Pal Khurana, 40, his wife Jasmeet Kaur, 38, son Jashandeep Singh, 18, and daughter Bisman Kaur, 15, were shot at their house in Ludhiana’s posh Model Town locality on Wednesday night.
Preliminary investigation showed that it was a case of the merchant shooting his family before killing himself with a revolver. Police said a case was registered under Section 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.
The family stayed on the first floor of house number 55-56 in B block of Model Town Extension.
The merchant shot his wife and son before shooting his daughter and then killing himself, a spot examination by the police revealed.
Bisman is the lone survivor and is admitted to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), while the remaining three family members died of bullet injuries.
At 8.30am, Dharminder, who used to wash cars owned by the Khuranas, came to the house and went to the first floor to get the keys of the vehicle. He found the door bolted from inside and there was no response to his repeated knocking.
He returned and asked the businessman’s mother, Mohinder Kaur, who stays on the ground floor, about the family. The mother expressed surprise that her son and other family members were still asleep.
{{/usCountry}}He returned and asked the businessman’s mother, Mohinder Kaur, who stays on the ground floor, about the family. The mother expressed surprise that her son and other family members were still asleep.
{{/usCountry}}By that time, their driver Desraj also came to the house and knocked on the door. Dharminder and Desraj peeped into the house and found Bisman on the floor in the lobby with blood splattered around. The police were called and the door was broken open. Bisman was rushed to DMCH, where she is in a serious condition.
The bodies of Jagmeet’s wife, Jasmeet Kaur, son Jashandeep were found in one room on the first floor, while the merchant’s body was found in the adjoining room with the revolver.
The bullet hit the head of the merchant, his wife and son in the forehead. Bisman was shot near the neck and stomach. The exact number of bullets fired will be revealed after the post-mortem, police said.
Jagmeet was suffering losses in business and was mentally disturbed about the looming financial crisis. His mother Mohinder Kaur told the police that her son confided in her only last night when he said he is upset over his losses at work.
Police said the entire family had applied for permanent residency in Canada.
“As the door was locked from inside, it appears that the businessman shot himself after shooting his wife and two children. Only the daughter has survived. However we are registering an FIR and will be investigating all other angles,” said police commissioner RN Dhoke.
Khurana was a partner in business with KK Garg, who is president of the Induction Furnace Association of North India. The business ties were suspended two months ago due to reasons best known to the family.
Garg, who was present at the spot, said there were no differences between the two and business ties were severed solely due to professional reasons.
Jagmeet Khurana had also applied for a PR for Canada nearly five months ago and was planning to leave the country along with the family.
Harbhajan Singh Dang a neighbour of Khurana who used to meet him regularly, said he looked depressed. “Jagmeet used to meet me in the evening. He used to remain quiet of late. He told me recently that he had applied for PR and would shift to Canada” said Dang.
Station House Officer of Model Town area, Surinder Chopra said that a pistol of .32 bore was recovered from near the body of Khurana that was used in the incident. “It is a licensed pistol owned by Khurana and used in crime” said Chopra.
He said that the post-mortem will be conducted on Thursday evening. Khurana’s in-laws are based in Patna and scheduled to reach the city.
DAUGHTER CONSCIOUS, DID NOT UTTER A WORD
The lone survivor, daughter Bisman gained consciousness in the hospital in the evening. She was in a state of shock. She did not utter a word and doctors were examining her at the time of filing this report.