In a fresh twist in the shocking Burari death mystery, the Delhi Police on Sunday evening said that there were proofs pointing towards certain occult practices followed by the Bhatia family.
Eleven members of the family were found dead in north Delhi on Sunday, most of them hanging from the ceiling of their home, blindfolded, gagged and with hands tied behind the back.
A police statement said some handwritten notes were found in the house "which point towards observance of some definite spiritual/mystical practices by the whole family".
"These notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes etc of the deceased were tied and taped."
Calling it a mass murder, a media report said that it was an insider’s job, who was under some tantrik’s influence. This angle was being investigated and a case of murder registered, the statement by Delhi Police said.
Among the 11 dead, seven were women, while four were men. The deceased have been identified as Narayan Devi, who was found dead on the floor, her daughter Pratibha (57), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45). Bhavnesh's wife Savita (48) and their three children - Meenu (23) and Nidhi (25), and Dhruv, aged 15. Lalit Bhatia's wife Tina (42) and their 15-year-old son Shivam were also among those found dead. Pratibha's daughter Priyanka (33), who was engaged last month and would have married by the end of this year, was also found hanging.
Except the matriarch, who was strangulated to death, all others were found hanging from the wired mesh in the courtyard. The insider theory also gain credence from the fact that the family’s pet Labrador didn’t made any noise. That means there was no forced entry in the house. In fact, the women were wearing their gold jewelry at the time of their death. Nothing in the house was touched or ransacked.
A neighbour found the victims early on Sunday, police said.
Bhavnesh ran a grocery store on the ground floor of the house. He used to open his shop around 6 am, the family's neighbour Amrik Singh said.
"Today, the shop was not opened till 7am. The milk van had arrived outside the shop. A couple of neighbours had gathered becaused the van driver was continuously honking. Then I opened the main gate and went upstairs. What I saw there left me shocked," said Gurcharan Singh, another neighbour.
"I haven't seen such a crime before," said Vineet Kumar, additional deputy commissioner of police in north Delhi.
All the family members had died and there were no witnesses. Neighbours had not heard anything untoward, police said.
The family migrated to the capital from Rajasthan about two decades ago and police were trying to get in touch with relatives there.
