Triple murders and suicide: Phones sent to police lab

Gurgaon: Prakash Singh and his family’s mobile phones, which police believe could hold the key to why he attacked his wife, daughter and son with a hammer and knife before committing suicide at their home in Uppal Southend last Sunday, have been sent to Haryana Police’s Digital Investigation Training and Analysis Centre (DITAC).
Singh (50), a pharma industry veteran, his wife Sonu (48), daughter Aditi (22) and son Aditya (12) were found dead in their house on Monday morning.
Investigators believe though the Singhs’ ground-floor house at Uppal Southend was a four-bedroom one, Sonu was probably in the same room with Aditi and Aditya on the night of the attack.
The autopsy report indicated the two women and the kid were attacked with a hammer and knife.
Singh had immersed all the phones in a jar of water before committing suicide. Police believe he did so because he did not want information on the phones to come out.
DITAC comes under the state’s crime investigation department (CID) and has high-end software as well as experts who handle complex technical investigations. The cyber cell of Gurgaon police had custody of the phones before this.
“We have sent the phones to DITAC and will wait for their report,” said a senior police officer.
Police are examining five devices, the three cellphones dunked in water, an iPhone and an iPad. The phones that were put in water are not functioning any more, while the iPhone’s security features make it tough to crack.
ACP (Sadar) Aman Yadav said, “So far, we have recorded statements of several people and it has not helped in solving the mystery behind the incident.”
He added people who were in touch with the family have not shared anything which could help understand what was troub-ling Singh. The house in which the family was living was in Sonu’s name and they had taken a loan against it. Singh had also bought three properties, in Gurgaon, Noida and hometown Varanasi, after taking bank loans. But nothing indicates any major financial trouble — Singh had a long career in the pharmaceutical industry and he and Sonu ran four schools through their NGO Apni Pathshala.
Aditi was a student but had formed her own startup and was making handmade soaps. Sonu and Singh were also trying out an online medicine sales venture.