NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The police is still groping in the dark about the motive behind the murder of two children in a house in Budaun in Uttar Pradesh in which in which a man allegedly walked into a neighbour’s home, asked for money and committed the double murder.
The accused Sajid was soon afterwards killed by the police in an encounter.
Chilling details have emerged about the double murder. The alleged killer Sajid, ran a barber shop opposite the victims’ house and knew their father Vinod, police said. On Tuesday evening, Sajid visited their house, ostensibly to borrow ₹ 5,000, but Vinod was not at home. Vinod’s wife Sangeeta contacted her husband and on Vinod’s approval she handed him the money and went to the kitchen to make tea as requested by Sajid.
Sajid allegedly asked the oldest boy, 11-year-old Aayush, to show him his mother’s beauty salon upstairs. The boy led him to the first floor, and then the second floor. On the second floor, Sajid allegedly switched off the lights and attacked Aayush with a knife.
Sajid was allegedly slitting Aayush’s throat when his youngest brother Ahaan (6) walked in. Sajid allegedly grabbed Ahaan and killed him in a similar manner. He went on to attack their other brother, Piyush, but the seven-year-old was able to run away and hide and coming downstairs informed the mother about the crime upstairs, the police said. Aayush and Ahaan died but Piyush suffered minor injuries.
Sajid then fled with his brother Javed, who was waiting outside on a bike. The police say when Sajid was caught, he fired at the cops and was killed in an encounter. An inspector was shot and has been admitted to hospital, the police said. Javed is still missing.
A magisterial probe has been ordered into the encounter and the district magistrate has sought the probe report within 15 days. The double murders have sparked tension in the city, with residents setting the barber’s shop on fire.
The police dismissed reports linking the killings to occult. Social media is being monitored to prevent such rumours, senior police officer Alok Priyadarshani said.
The police said the motive behind the murders has not been established so far, but it appears to be a dispute between Sajid and Vinod. However, Vinod has denied any dispute. “I had no dispute with him. I was away from home for work when he came to the house. One of my sons was able to escape him and warn his mother,” Vinod said.
According to the family, Sajid told Sangeeta that his pregnant wife was in hospital and he needed ₹ 5,000 for her treatment. Sangeeta called her husband Vinod on the phone, who reportedly told her to loan him the money. “I gave him the money and he told me his wife’s delivery was scheduled for 11pm. He said he was anxious and I told him not to be worried. I gave him the tea and he went upstairs with my son,” Sangeeta said. An FIR has been registered against the two brothers. The police are also questioning Sajid’s father.
Sajid and Javed’s mother Najin said she had no clue why her sons committed the brutal crime. “I don’t know what was going on in their heads. They had their breakfast and left home around 7 am. I don’t know what happened. There was no tension at home,” she said, adding that she empathised with the victims’ family and that her son got what he deserved.
(Manas Dasgupta)
