Ruling out provocation as motivation behind former Army officer Naresh Dhankhar going on a murder spree and randomly killing six people in Palwal on Tuesday, the police said the accused had lunch with his in-laws just two days before and had behaved perfectly normally.
The police, however, added that Dhankhar had a history of “aggressive” and “abnormal” behaviour and had twice made an attempt to strangulate his wife.
“It seems there was no immediate provocation for the attack as Dhankhar went to meet his wife and son at his in-laws’ on December 31 and had lunch with them. He had asked his wife and son to join him at their Omaxe City flat on New Year’s Eve, but she refused saying their son was not well. He then left and there was no further communication,” Inspector General of Police (South Range) C. S. Rao told The Hindu .
He, however, added that investigation had revealed that Dhankhar, a Sub-Divisional Officer with Haryana’s Agriculture Department, would behave abnormally and was aggressive.
Was often aggressive
“His wife revealed that he would often get up in the middle of the night demanding that he wanted to see her face. He had aggressive behaviour and even tried to strangulate her on two occasions. She told us that she had reported the matter to the police,” said Mr. Rao.
Dhankhar, a resident of Macchgar in Ballabhgarh, got married after taking voluntary retirement from the Army. He would often tell his wife that he had sustained an injury during his brief stint in the Army. That could be the reason for his abnormal and aggressive behaviour, the police said.
Besides Dhankhar, 12 members of the Palwal Hospital staff, including three doctors and a manager, have also been made co-accused in the case registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The family of Anjum, who was murdered inside the hospital, had accused the hospital staff of failing to prevent the attack.
Meanwhile, the district administration announced an ex-gratia of ₹3 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased after they refused to take the bodies. The families had demanded financial assistance and government jobs. “We have decided to release ₹2 lakh each from the CM Relief Fund and ₹1 lakh each under Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana. The bodies were taken by their relatives and last rites performed,” said Deputy Commissioner (Palwal) Mani Ram Sharma.
Dhankhar had suffered serious injuries as police attempted to arrest him.
Safdarjung Hospital spokesperson said Dhankhar regained consciousness post-surgery on Wednesday and “is in the ICU”.
