Decomposed bodies of elderly couple found at Northwest Delhi flat, caretaker prime suspect, say police

The bodies were discovered around 10.30 am on Tuesday after the family’s driver told their elder son that he had rung the doorbell several times to no response

Outside the home in Kohat Enclave where the two were murdered (Express Photo)

4 min readNew DelhiMar 19, 2025 12:15 PM IST First published on: Mar 19, 2025 at 05:40 AM IST

An elderly couple was found dead in their third-floor flat in Northwest Delhi’s Kohat Enclave Tuesday morning.

According to police, they were murdered possibly in the late hours of Sunday. Mohinder Singh Talwar (72) had been strangled to death while Daljeet Kaur sported injuries to her head, along with strangulation marks on her neck. The bodies were also found in a decomposed state, they said.

Police believe the man’s caretaker, who was just two days into the job, is the primary suspect in the case. The bodies were discovered around 10.30 am on Tuesday after the family’s driver told their elder son, Charanpreet Singh, that he had rung the doorbell several times to no response.

The Talwars’ two sons live in the building next door.

“My wife went to inspect and saw their main door was slightly ajar,” Charanpreet told The Indian Express. “She opened the door and saw my mother lying towards the left… my father-sahab was in his room,” he said.

Mohinder Singh Talwar and his wife Daljeet Kaur were found dead

This incident comes in the wake of another attack on an elderly couple in Northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar on Monday. Three to four assailants had stormed the house and held a retired Delhi University professor, his wife and their domestic worker hostage at gunpoint. The men then tied up the victims in separate rooms and made off with over Rs 50 lakh in cash and jewellery. The culprits made their getaway in the couple’s car, which was later found abandoned near Wazirpur JJ Colony. Police have not been able to identify the culprits as of now.

The Talwars owned readymade garment shops in Paschim Vihar and Kamla Nagar. They are now being handled by their sons, Charanpreet and Manpreet. The couple also have a daughter, Gurleen Kaur.

According to Charanpreet, the caretaker who used to work for the family had quit a while back. “My father had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few months ago and was bedridden because of his condition,” explained Charanpreet.

“He needed round-the-clock care and had to take medicines every few hours, even at night. We had kept a man to take care of him at night but he had quit the job around 1.5 months ago. A few days ago, we had asked him to come back since we liked his work,” he added.

According to Charanpreet, while the previous employee couldn’t come back to work with the Talwars due to scheduling issues, he recommended another person to work in his place. “It was his second day on the job on Sunday,” said Charanpreet.

The caretaker did not show up for work on Monday evening, a relative claimed.

During the day, the couple’s domestic worker allegedly rang the doorbell several times and left when no one answered the door, leading to the late discovery of the bodies. The sons said the family’s driver also had his day off on Monday. They said they couldn’t check on their parents on that day as they were caught up with work.

Police confirmed the assailant ransacked the couple’s house, and jewellery Daljeet would usually wear was missing.

Police said all angles are being looked into and a search has been launched for the missing caretaker. Police are also trying to nab the previous caretaker, who recommended the replacement.