Skeletons of 5 ‘family members’ found inside Karnataka house locked for 4 years; police get unsigned ‘suicide’ note

“We suspect that the remains are of Jagannath Reddy, 85, a retired government executive engineer, his wife Prema, 80, daughter Triveni, 62, and sons Krishna, 60, and Narendra, 57,” said a police officer, adding that the house appeared to have been ransacked many times.

According to neighbours, the family was last seen in June-July 2019 and later the house has always remained locked.

Of the five skeletal remains – all found lying in a sleeping position – two were found on the beds, two on floors of a room and one in another room.

Forensic experts in Davanagere were called to collect evidence. “We do not know whether it is a case of suicide or something else. Only after the forensic report will we be able to ascertain the cause of the deaths,” he added.

“As the family did not mingle much with neighbours, they did not also bother to check. Two months ago, someone noticed that the wooden door was broken but even then the police were not informed,” the officer said.

The relatives told the police that the family was going through severe health issues.

Preliminary investigation indicated that the family did not mingle with neighbours after Narendra Reddy, an engineer in a private firm, was sent to jail in a robbery case in 2013.

Chitradurga district SP Dharmendra Kumar Meena said the police discovered the skeletons after they got a call from a journalist around Thursday 9 pm.

“It has also been found that the house owner paid the last electricity bill on January 13, 2019. The couple had four children and one among them, Manjunath, died in 2014,” Meena said.

Meanwhile, Home Minister G Parameshwara has directed the police to find out how their long absence went unnoticed. “The police have collected the evidence and are investigating further to ascertain the identity of the deceased and the reason behind the deaths,” he said.