Four of family gunned down in Barwala

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 17

In a shocking incident, an elderly woman and her three grandchildren were shot dead in their house by unidentified persons at Khatauli village falling in Barwala block of this district late on Friday night.

The victims have been identified as Raj Bala (68) and her grandchildren Aishwarya (18), Divyanshu (16) and Ayush (12).

The incident came to light when Raj Bala’s brother Suresh Pal reached the house to deliver milk at 7.30 in the morning. As all gates were open, he suspected foul play and informed one of the neighbours, Mohan Singh. They entered the house and found the bodies of the woman and three children lying on beds in two rooms. They informed the police, who rushed to the spot.

A dog squad was called to the crime scene. But it proved to be of no help as by the time it reached there, a large number of people from the village as well as adjoining areas had gathered at the house. A team of forensic experts took fingerprints from the spot. The police said Raj Bala and her grandson Divyanshu were sleeping in one room while Aishwarya and her younger brother Ayush were sleeping in another.

The police said the accused seemingly entered the house through the rear gate and shot at the victims in the head at point-blank range using a country-made pistol.

The police suspect someone very close to the family could have been involved in the murder as the family’s pet dog did not make a noise when the incident took place. Any outsider would not have dared to enter the house from the rear gate where the pet was tied, the police said.

Earlier, it was suspected that the dog was given some sedative. However, the police disagreed while stating that the canine was agile and tried to attack everyone going near it.

It was a miraculous escape for the youngest girl in the family, Shelly (10), who had been living with her paternal aunt Anjana in Zirakpur, Punjab. 

Raj Bala’s husband Rajinder Singh had died a natural death two years ago while her son Upinder Singh had committed suicide under suspicious circumstances in 2008. His wife had eloped with someone two years ago. 

Raj Bala had been looking after her grandchildren for the past two years. One of her daughters, Lovely, used to stay with the family often and had left the place on Friday evening.

Divyanshu, aka Vishal, was a student of Class X at Scholar School in Moli village in Barwala while Ayush, aka Vansh, studied in Class VI at KVM Senior Secondary School. Their sister Aishwarya was studying at Government Girls College in Raipur Rani. 

Meanwhile, the bodies had been shifted to the Civil Hospital in Sector 6. X-rays were being conducted to ascertain the number of bullets in the bodies. The postmortem examination would be conducted by a board of doctors tomorrow.

Commissioner of Police Charu Bali said they were investigating the incident from every angle. She said the accused had come with the sole purpose of killing the family members as they did not touch any of the household items. She said property angle could not be ruled out as the family owned a large chunk of agricultural land. 

Local MLA Gian Chand Gupta also reached the spot.