A 50-year-old businessman, Sanjay Sonaria, who used to deal in real estate, was found brutally murdered along with his 47-year-old wife Jyoti and their 20-year-old son Pawan at their home in Central Delhi’s Rajendra Nagar area on Sunday morning. The family had been living on the third floor of their house in Old Rajendra Nagar for past eight years.
A police source privy to the investigation said that personal enmity could be the reason behind the brutal triple murder. The source said that the deceased had been involved in around nine criminal cases, including cheating and criminal breach of trust. “We are probing the matter with several angles including robbery, personal enmity and financial dispute. Apart from his business rivals, the family and relatives of the deceased are also under scanner,” the source said.
Police teams from D.B.G. Road, Prasad Nagar and Karol Bagh police stations along with two teams of special cell and crime branch have roped in to investigate the triple murder.
The police said the incident came to light after Kalawati, alias Jito, the family’s domestic help visited their home at about 9 am on Sunday. She found the door open and as she went inside she was shocked to see the bodies of Jyoti and her son Pawan lying in a pool of blood with their hands and legs tied. The assailants had strangled them with chunnis, which were found wrapped around their necks. The entire house had been ransacked and things were scattered on the floor.
Seeing all this, the domestic help got horrified and called Jyoti’s mother. Later on, the police was informed about the incident. Virender Kumar Bhatia, the maternal uncle of the deceased, who lives in their neighbourhood, was also called. A police team along with forensic experts of the CBI were immediately summoned to the spot.
Initially, the police suspected involvement of Sanjay in the murders of his wife and son as he was reportedly missing from the crime scene. “The forensic team gathered evidence for about two hours. Only after Sanjay’s body was found in a cupboard of the adjacent room that the forensic team decided to check another room. Sanjay’s hands and legs also found tied up and it was found that he too had been strangled to death,” the police said. The police has sent the bodies to Sucheta Kriplani Hospital for autopsy and a case of triple murder has been lodged against unknown persons.
Sanjay earlier used to work for Food Corporation of India, but had been suspended over a corruption case. He had married Jyoti after a love affair and started a real estate business in her name.
In the recent past, Sanjay had reported to the police that he had been shot at by unknown person at his home. Later, it was revealed that he himself had planned the attack.
Sanjay and his wife had been arrested and later on remanded to judicial custody and finally had been released on bail by a local court.
Investigations revealed that Sanjay had sold the floor of the house he lived in to someone, but was not ready to vacate it. It could also be one of the reasons behind the incident. However, the senior police officials were tight lipped over this point. The police source said that Sanjay’s father Lallu Ram used to run an iron shop in the area. He had bequeathed his property in the name of Jyoti and this had become a bone of contention between Sanjay and his two brothers. This had led to fights among the three brothers over this issue many times.
The police suspects that the family could have been murdered on Saturday night. Jyoti had spoken to her mother that they were having a special dinner. Investigations suggest that the assailants had a friendly entry into the house. The assailants who were known to the deceased might have held them hostage at knifepoint before committing the crime.
The police is examining CCTV footage of the area to get more details about the murders. About 50 neighbours and some property dealers are also being questioned.
