Elderly couple robbed, murdered in their Ashok Vihar residence

An elderly couple was murdered in their home in northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar on Saturday. The house had been ransacked and prima facie, robbery appeared to be the motive behind the crime, police said.

The deceased were identified as retired government employees Ramlal Bhutani, 79, who worked in Home Ministry's Audit Department, and his wife Kaushal Bhutani, 73, who was a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher. The incident was reported around 9.30am. The couple did not have any child. While Kaushal's throat had been slit, Ramlal was strangled to death. According to the police, a recently hired attendant has gone absconding and is the prime suspect in the case.The incident came to light when the other attendant, Dulal Sarkar, who looked after the ailing Ramlal, came to the house at 8 am and found the door locked. According to him, the couple was too old to go anywhere and would visit doctors from time to time.

Ramlal had been bed-ridden for the three years due to a problem in his spine. Recently, he had developed heart problems as well.

"My job was to look after Ramlal from 8am to 8pm. On Saturday morning, I came to work and found the door locked. They did not answer their phones. I inquired with the neighbours and even called Ramlal's relatives but nobody had any clue," Sarkar said.

Sarkar went to the nearest hospital to make inquires. When he couldn't locate the couple, he informed the police, who broke the door open to find the bodies.

"Ramlal was on the bed. It looked like he had been smothered to death. Kaushal was on the ground. Every room in the house was ransacked. Cupboards were open and their lockers empty. The couple's phones were also missing," Sarkar said.

Attendant Dinesh, 20, is the prime suspect in the case and, according to neighbours, was the last person to be seen with the couple.

"Dinesh was hired after Ramlal had a stroke 10 days ago. On Friday night, I left when Dinesh came. He was supposed to be there on Saturday but wasn't. Instead, I found my employers dead," Sarkar said.

DCP (northwest) Milind Dumbre said the forensics and crime teams have collected adequate samples from the crime scene and the police have possible leads. He said: "Dinesh is absconding but will be arrested soon.