The decomposed bodies of four members of a family were found in their rented apartment at Taloja phase I on Saturday morning. The deceased were identified as Nitesh Upadhyay (35), his wife Babli (30), their eight-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son.
The flat owner, Rajesh Bharadwaj, reached Shiv Corner building in Sector 9 around 10.30 a.m. and approached the secretary and chairman of the society. He told them that Mr. Upadhyay had not paid the rent for two months and was unreachable.
“He found this suspicious and wanted to visit the flat. The secretary, the watchman and I entered the flat using Mr. Bharadwaj’s duplicate key and found a broken mobile and a removed sim card. There was dust everywhere, as if the house had not been cleaned in a long time. When we entered the bedroom, we saw a body and immediately closed the door and called the police,” Asif Khan, the chairman, said.
The police reached and found three more bodies in the house. “The bodies were decomposed,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Ashok Dudhe said. “There was no foul smell outside the flat or in the hall. The foul smell came out only after we opened the bedroom door,” Mr. Khan said.
Two suicide notes
The identity cards of the victims were found burnt in the kitchen and the police also found two suicide notes. One said the family was committing suicide and anyone who finds the bodies should conduct their last rites as per Hindu rituals. It also said some cash and gold ornaments were kept in the room and that they had no relatives. The other note said that no one must be held responsible for their actions.
The owner said he last spoke to Upadhyay in December end and after January 8, there has been no response on WhatsApp either. His display picture read: “Death: Any last wish? Me: You are late.”
“Prima facie, it looks like Upadhyay first killed his wife and children, and then committed suicide. We are yet to understand the reason behind the act. We have been able to contact his relative in Delhi and once they come here, we can get some idea about the reason,” Mr. Dudhe said.
Moved from Delhi
The Upadhyays had moved into the society in September 2019 and were in Delhi before that.
“We were told that he was into online trading. The family was once present in a pooja in the society but were not present for Republic Day celebrations. The neighbours are all working and busy in daily lives hence all thought that the family had gone to Delhi and were not seen outside,” Mr. Khan said.
Upadhyay would generally transfer the rent to the owner by the fifth or sixth of every month, and since it was not received, Mr. Bharadwaj became suspicious. After enquiring with the children’s school, the police learnt that they were seen last on January 2.
A case of murder has been filed and further investigations are under way.