Burari mass murder: 'Saw them play cricket last night,' say stunned neighbours

Neighbours recalled the family, 11 members of which were found dead under mysterious circumstances in north Delhi's Burari Sunday morning, as one that always helped others.

Amrik Singh, one of the neighbours, said the grocery store owned by the family used to open by 6 am every day and close only after those living in the lane had gone off to sleep.

On Sunday, when the shop did not open by 7 am, everyone was surprised.

"The milk van had arrived outside the shop. A couple of neighbours had gathered because the van driver was continuously honking. I opened the main gate and went upstairs. What I saw there left me shocked," Amrik's father Gurcharan Singh, one of the first persons to see the bodies, said.

Devesh, another neighbour, said, "Sometimes, they would even open their shop at 5.30 am if someone requested for some small item. The nearby chaiwala was usually the first customer as he would come to the shop to buy milk." The locals also described the Bhatias as the "largest family" living in the lane.

"They were living here for over 22 years. Never once did we see them quarrelling with anyone or troubling the neighbours," said another resident.

Jatin (15), who was friends with the two boys among the deceased, said he had seen them play cricket last night.

"They looked happy and were playing around 11 pm. Bhavnesh uncle was watching them play from his shop. We played cricket with them during holidays and it is hard to believe that they are no more," he said.

The police found some handwritten notes in the house, which, they said suggested that the family might have been into some sort of religious practices, but the contents of the notes were not immediately clear.

The police said they were informed by a neighbour that six-seven persons had committed suicide but upon reaching the spot, they found 11 people had died.

The deceased were identified as Narayan Devi (77), who was found dead on the floor, her daughter Pratibha (57), two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit Bhatia (45).

Bhavnesh's wife Savita (48) and their three children -- Meenu (23) and Nidhi (25), and Dhruv (15) -- were also found dead, along with Lalit's wife Tina (42) and their 15-year-old son Shivam.

Pratibha's daughter Priyanka (33), who got engaged last month and was supposed to get married in November, was also found hanging.

The neighbours also recalled attending Priyanka's engagement ceremony and how excited the family was about the wedding.

"Priyanka was doing well in her career. On June 17, she got engaged and we had attended the function. Ours is a close-knit neighbourhood and we share our joys and sorrows with each other," Devesh said. 

Burari residents in shock 

Every day, people crossing the Bhatia residence would read a Hindi verse the family had written on a board put up outside the grocery store owned by it but today, all they could see was reporters, TV cameras and policemen moving in and out of the residence.

There were discussions about whether the deceased were killed or had committed suicide as one boarded a "Gramin Seva" autorickshaw from the GTB Nagar metro station, which is six kilometres away from Sant Nagar in Burari, from where the incident was reported.

The passengers in the autorickshaw could be heard discussing the massive traffic jam in the morning hours since Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal paid a visit to the "house of horror".

"We got to know about the incident through news channels around 8 am. Everybody is talking about it. There are also stories floating that the family did it due to some religious belief," a woman passenger said.

Neighbours said they were scared after hearing about the incident.

"If they were killed, we are worried about the law-and order situation in Burari. Last month, there was a shootout in broad daylight in which a commoner was also killed and on the first day of this month, 11 bodies are found in a house," a resident of the locality said.

Others were worried about whether anyone would even think about buying the house where the bodies were found and after the police finding handwritten notes indicating a "religious" angle to the deaths.

Even as the police were looking for clues in the house, it was chaos outside as locals had turned up in large numbers, seeing the media frenzy.

While the bodies were being taken away, some were seen making videos on their phones. A neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said his elderly mother had fallen sick after hearing about the incident.

Another neighbour said there was a feeling of fear in the locality.

"My tenants were so scared that they told me they were going to stay at a relative's place for a week," he added.

The police found some handwritten notes in the house, which, they said suggested that the family might have been into some sort of religious practices.

(With PTI inputs)