RAW officer, family found dead in Delhi

‘He appears to have killed his wife, son, daughter and committed suicide’

New Delhi, March 01, 2014:: Forensic experts investigating at the official residence of a RAW official who committed suicide after killing his wife, young son and daughter in Sadik Nagar area of South New Delhi on Saturday, March 01, 2014. Photo Rajeev Bhatt.

A 52-year-old Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) officer was found dead along with his wife and two children in his house at Sadiq Nagar in South Delhi on Saturday evening.

According to police, the officer, Ananya Chakravarty — who was an inspector with RAW and posted as a field officer in the Cabinet Secretariat — was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the drawing room of his house, while the bodies of his wife Jaishri and daughter Disha (12) were found in an adjacent bedroom. His son Arnab (17) was found dead in his room. The house was bolted from inside and the main door had to be broken open by the police.

Mr. Chakravarty lived on the second floor of type-IV government quarters in Sadiq Nagar with his family. His neighbours said they last saw the family on Friday night.

“The incident came to light when their maid reached there around 3.30 p.m. She rang the bell but there was no response. She then went down and called the guard, but he too did not answer. She then informed the neighbours following which the police were called in,” said a police officer.

A police team broke open the door and found Mr. Chakravarty, his wife and his son dead in separate rooms. They also recovered a blood-stained hammer from the house which they suspect was used to kill Jaishri and the two children. No suicide note has been found in the house. There are no signs of a forced entry to the house, the police said.

The police said the incident might have taken place on Friday night as none of the neighbours saw the family members on Saturday and their phones were also switched off since morning. However, the exact time of death will be ascertained only after the post-mortem.

“ Prima facie it seems that Chakravarty first killed his family and then committed suicide. We are investigating the case and the exact cause is yet to be ascertained,” said a senior police officer. Sources said trouble with in-laws might have prompted Chakravarty to take the extreme step. The bodies were moved to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for post-mortem.