82-year-old woman, three daughters, guard stabbed to death in Delhi house
NEWDELHI: An 82-year-old woman, her three daughters and a security guard were found dead in their ancestral haveli in east Delhi’s Shahdara on Saturday in what police believe could be a mass murder for property. The five were found with neck wounds believed to have been inflicted by sharp objects though police are yet to recover any weapon.
Police ruled out robbery as a motive despite the women’s room being ransacked. Police are probing if a property dispute led to the murders. “The aged woman, Urmila Jindal, was to sell her share of the property,” said Delhi police spokesperson Dependra Pathak, adding the entry into the property and the women’s room was “friendly”.
“The jewellery and expensive mobile phones of the victims were left untouched. Robbery does not look like a motive here,” he said. Urmila’s nephews and other relatives, however, denied any property dispute.
The murders happened in a haveli known as the ‘Jindal Oil Mills’, a popular landmark in east Delhi and one of the first buildings to be built in Shahdara.
Spread over more than 5,000 sq feet, the haveli housed seven families, including Urmila’s, and a total of 40 family members. The Jindal family was into mustard oil production from 1932 until four decades ago.
The four other deceased are Urmila’s three daughters, Sangeeta Gupta, 56, Nupur, 48, Anjali, 38 — and a 42-year-old security guard, Rakesh. Urmila had lost her husband a few years ago. Urmila had another daughter, Abha, who lives with her husband in South Extension.
“Nupur and Anjali had decided to serve their mother, so they did not get married. Sangeeta lost her husband a few years ago,” said Rakesh Jindal, Urmila’s nephew.
The murders were revealed around 7am when the flower delivery man did not receive a response from the security guard. He entered the unlocked gate to find the guard lying near the stairs. “The family was discussing the guard’s murder, one of the members entered Urmila’s room to find her murdered. Her three daughters were lying dead nearby. All the five had been stabbed multiple times in their necks,” said an investigator not authorised to address the media.
NO PROPERTY DISPUTE, SAYS JINDAL FAMILY
Most old-time residents of Shahdara know the ‘Jindal Oil Mills’, located next to the GT Road, as a landmark. Though the mills stopped producing oil around four decades ago, the name continues to be displayed outside the yellow building.
Locals would often marvel at the number of cars, including high-end luxury cars, parked inside and outside the house that sprawls over 5,000 square feet .
Four women in the house and a security guard were found stabbed to death inside the sprawling house on Saturday morning.
“This family was the first to construct a house in Shahdara. They drove around in an expensive car at a time when there were very few cars in Delhi. A lot of properties alongside GT Road in Shahdara belong to the family,” said Naresh Prakash, a trader.