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The DCP said Singh told interrogators that judge Krishan Kant’s family members – Ritu Garg (38) and Dhruv (18) – were “devils”. “When police asked why he was calling them devils, Singh said that being a devil means being a dirty person. He was aggressive during the initial hours of interrogation,” Kuhar said.

The accused said he was illtreated by Dhruv, who would ask Singh to run personal errands, according to Kuhar. “The accused and his wife often used to fight and had an estranged relationship for the last two years. He had phoned his mother, too, after he shot Ritu and Dhruv,” the police officer added. According to an FIR filed by the judge late on Saturday, Dhruv asked for the keys to the car after shopping at the market. This angered Singh, the judge’s statement said, adding that the guard shouted at the mother and son and opened fire at Ritu. He also fired at Dhruv when he came to his mother’s rescue, according to the police complaint.

Ritu and Dhruv suffered gunshot injuries in the chest and head and were rushed to a private hospital, where the woman succumbed a few hours later. The PSO fired five rounds – three at Dhruv and two at his mother. No bullets were found in them, and only entry and exit wounds were reported. Police said a bullet did not penetrate, but left a bruise on the neck of the teenager.

Dhruv is a Class 12 student at a school in Sector 14. His brother also studies at the same school in Class 5, the police said. A resident of Bhungarka village in Haryana’s Narnaul, Singh had been with the judge’s family since April 2017, when Sharma was posted in a Gurugram court. He allegedly shot Ritu and Dhruv with his service revolver (.38 bore) and called up the judge around 3.45pm after the incident and told him that he had shot his wife and son. A case under Section 302 (murder) and Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the India Penal Code and Section 27 of the Arms Act has been registered at the Sector 50 police station in Gurugram. The police have formed a special investigation team headed by DCP Sulochna Gajraj to probe the incident.

Ritu’s autopsy was performed by a board of doctors on Sunday morning. “She died due to excessive bleeding. There was one fatal bullet injury on the right side of the chest,” said Dr Deepak Mathur, one of the three doctors who conducted the post-mortem.

The Haryana government has decided to appoint counselors in all the districts of the state to work with the police personnel deployed as PSOS to VIPS. Kuhar said that most policemen in such roles lead stressful lives. A team of policemen stood guard outside the residence of the accused on Sunday, preventing people from talking to the family members of Singh at a flat in a government society for police officers in Gurugram. “We have orders from our senior officers not to allow anyone to meet the family,” said one of the officers on duty. The policemen opened the door of the house after repeated requests. The mother of the accused, still inside the house, said she had nothing to say about the incident

Singh lived in the flat with his wife, two daughters and mother.