The accused, Prabu Nath, is the victim’s cousin

A day after the decomposing bodies of an e-rickshaw driver, his wife and their three children were found at their home in North East Delhi’s Bhajanpura, police arrested the driver’s 26-year-old cousin for allegedly killing the family.

Police said the accused, Prabhu Nath, allegedly killed his sister-in-law first after she insulted him for not returning Rs 30,000 that he owed her husband. He then killed the others before locking the door and fleeing.

On Wednesday afternoon, Shambu Chaudhary (43) and his wife Sunita (37) were found dead inside the bedroom, their children — Shivam (17), Sachin (14) and Komal (12) — were found dead in another room.

DCP (North East) Ved Prakash Surya said, “Neighbours had complained of a foul smell coming from the house on Wednesday…We reached the spot and found the bodies. The children last went to school on February 3. It is suspected that the family has been dead for over a week. We checked footage from a CCTV near the house and saw Nath entering Chaudhary’s house on February 3. He was apprehended by police and confessed to the crime. Footage showed him entering the house on February 3, and call detail records of Chaudhary’s phone also showed that he met Nath that day.”

Police corroborated the exact sequence of events using footage from the CCTV installed 20 metres away from the house.

According to police, Chaudhary had sold his land around six months ago and got some money. “Nath advised him to invest it and borrowed some money from him. When he didn’t get any returns, Chaudhary asked him to repay the money. Nath gave back most of it but still owed him Rs 30,000, which Chaudhary had been pressing him to return,” said a senior officer.

“Technical evidence shows that Chaudhary had spoken four times to his cousin on February 3 and asked him to meet him at his Laxmi Nagar office. During questioning, Nath said his cousin asked him to get a helmet from his house. Though CCTV footage was not not too clear, we corroborated the time when the accused and the victims reached the house from other cameras; it showed Nath arriving at around 2.45 pm,” said an officer.

Police said when Nath went to the house, Komal had gone for tuition and her siblings were in school. “Sunita hurled abuses at him. He grew angry and tried to strangle her. When she resisted, Nath picked up an iron rod and allegedly hit her on the head, killing her. He then took the body to the bedroom and covered it with clothes,” said the officer.

CCTV footage shows that Komal arrived at 3.43 pm. Nath opened the door and told her they should play a game. “He claimed he blindfolded her and hit on her head using the same rod. He dumped her body inside another room,” said police.

According to police, call records show that while Nath was carrying out the murders, Chaudhary had called to ask when he would come. “Nath said he was on his way and cut the call. At 5.45 pm, Sachin came home and Nath allegedly killed him… and later killed Shivam as well. He locked the door and left at 7.15 pm,” police said.

Police said at 7.18 pm, he called Chaudhary and asked him to meet him in Bhajanpura. “Nath took him to a liquor shop nearby… In the middle, he left on the pretext of meeting someone and went to Chaudhary’s house to unlock the door. Around 10.45 pm, the two went to the house, where Nath allegedly killed his cousin. CCTV footage shows him leaving at 11 pm,” the officer said.