Angry over his failed attempts to woo a minor girl, a young man went on a shooting spree allegedly killing her elder sister and her landlady at Bindapur in South-West Delhi, and then the girl and her father before committing suicide in their house in neighbouring Ghaziabad on Monday. The accused is also suspected to have murdered another person whose body was discovered in the Bindapur house late in the evening.
Ravi (23), a resident of Mohan Nagar in Ghaziabad, struck around 9-15 a.m. at the first floor rented accommodation of his cousin Naveen and his wife Renu (24). The accused opened fire at Renu with a pistol from point-blank range, pumping three bullets into her head. Hearing the gunshots, her landlady Sheila Garg came rushing. She tried to overpower Ravi, at which he fired twice injuring her in the head. Sheila’s husband Omprakash was away at work at that time.
When Sheila’s son Dinesh, who runs a sweetmeat shop close to the house and is also into property dealing, returned home he saw Ravi leaving the place, holding two firearms in his hands. After the accused drove away in his car, Dinesh went to the first floor and found Renu and his mother lying in an injured state. The two were rushed to a nearly hospital where Renu was declared dead on arrival. Sheila later succumbed to the gunshot injuries.
After allegedly killing Renu and her landlady, Ravi went straight for the house of Renu’s father Harender Singh (50). The accused shot dead Harender and his 17-year-old daughter, following which he locked himself in a room and turned the gun on himself.
Enquiries by the police revealed that Ravi was Naveen’s cousin. Naveen fell in love with Renu and the two got married about two years ago. Ravi frequented her house and during those visits, he developed a liking for Renu’s younger sister. He initially tried to convince Renu to arrange his marriage with her, but she declined. The accused also approached the girl and her father, but to no avail. In frustration, he then allegedly decided to eliminate them.
While the police initially believed that only four persons were murdered in the case, during inspection of Naveen’s house they noticed foul smell emanating from a bed trunk. “We found the body of a young man stuffed inside. The identity of the deceased has not been established yet,” said a police officer. Investigations have so far suggested that Ravi had been staying at Bindapur for the past two days. The police are trying to ascertain whether the body is that of Naveen or his brother Narender. “Statements of the victims’ relatives and friends will be recorded to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the murders,” said a police officer.
