New Delhi: Less than 12 hours after he made a call to the police control room informing about injuries to his parents and elder sister, a South Delhi man was arrested on the charge of murdering his family members.
Arjun Tanwar, 20, allegedly used the knife of his father Rajesh Kumar, an ex-army officer, to slit the throats of all three members of his family early hours of Wednesday before going on to his routine morning walk to have an alibi in his favour, according to the police.
The accused chose Wednesday to carry out killings because his parents were confirmed to be at their home at Neb Sarai for their wedding anniversary, police officers aware of the investigation said.
In a press conference Wednesday evening, Joint Commissioner of Police, Southern Range, Sanjay Kumar Jain said Arjun felt neglected by his parents and had “rivalry” with his elder sister Kavita.
The joint CP further said that Arjun, who has received education from prestigious institutions, was not good in studies compared to his 23-year-old sister and that led to criticism and punishment from his father.
Nevertheless, Arjun was a promising boxer and had represented Delhi at state-level competitions. He was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Delhi University through sports quota.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, South District, Ankit Chauhan told ThePrint that the accused would be produced at a court Thursday where police remand would be sought to further corroborate the sequence of events.
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‘Final nail in the coffin’
At the press briefing, the Joint CP said that the father-son’s acrimonious relationship was the prime factor behind the killings as Arjun always felt that his elder sister was getting more preference at his expense and that he felt neglected by the parents.
“He was not good in studies and wanted to pursue boxing as it was his passion. However, there was resistance from the family about him pursuing boxing at the expense of studies,” Jain told reporters.
“The scene of crime and the entire house seemed normal to the crime team which visited the spot, almost confirming that there was no attempt of robbery or forced entry into the house. The footage from CCTVs installed nearby also confirmed there was no entry of outsiders,” the Joint CP said.
As circumstantial evidence suggested no forced or unauthorised entry, he said, investigators grilled Arjun with counter questions that forced him to “improvise” his answers each time.
“He improvised his answers and did not repeat the same answers each time in response to questions by officers probing the matter. This led to investigators further questioning him, leading to his confession of committing the crime,” the senior police officer said.
Additionally, he said that there were injury marks on his hands for which he couldn’t provide satisfactory replies further pinning the doubt of investigating officers.
The Joint CP further said that investigators have managed to assemble “irrefutable” evidence against Arjun and are not relying solely on the circumstantial evidence and confession of Arjun.
“The scene of crime was thoroughly examined through Forensic Crime Team. The FSL team in its examination obtained the crucial and clinching forensic evidence of blood traces that pointed the needle of suspicion over the son behind the murder. The forensic examination helped in giving major and irrefutable lead in the case to nail the accused and lift the veil of alibi and deception created by the accused Son,” he said.
Detailing the sequence of events, the Joint CP said the “final nail in the coffin” proved to be an incident of the recent past when his father allegedly insulted him before outsiders.
Additionally, Arjun also got to hear that his parents were thinking of transferring properties in his elder sister’s name. These two factors, Jain said, fuelled the fire following which the plan was made to be carried out on his parents’ wedding anniversary.
(Edited by Tony Rai)