Debt-ridden businessman in Guj shoots dead wife, two daughters

A debt-ridden businessman allegedly shot dead his wife and two daughters on Tuesday morning at their home at Judges Bungalow Road in Ahmedabad, police said.

The family apparently had an argument over sending one of the daughters abroad for higher studies following which the incident took place, police said.

Dharmesh Shah, 50, who runs a construction business,first killed his wife Amiben using his licensed pistol at their flat in ‘Ratnam Tower’ building in the posh Judges Bungalow area. He then shot dead his two daughters -Heli (24) and Khushi (18) -- with his another 12-bore gun, assistant commissioner of Police S N Zala said. Police said that Shah, who owns construction company Diva Infrastructure, had decided to kill himself also.

``Soon after killing three members, he informed one of the engineers in his company about the killings and told him he is also going to commit suicide as well. When engineer reached the home, Shah was alive. They informed the police and Shah surrendered,’’ said an official with Satellite police station.

“Shah was into construction business and had a debt of around Rs 15 crore. His family was unaware of it,” Zala said. As per preliminary investigation, last night, there was some heated argument between the family members over sending Shah’s elder daughter to Australia for higher studies, for which they required Rs 70 lakh, he said.

Since Shah was in debt, he might have objected to it, which possibly led to the confrontation between family members, official said. “When his family members were asleep, Shah first killed his wife using his pistol. He then killed both the daughters using his 12-bore gun. He fired one round at his wife and two rounds each at his daughters,” Zala said.

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