Varanasi: Businessman and his family found dead with gunshot injuries

Initially, the police suspected that Rajendra, who was missing at the time, had shot dead his family members amid an argument and fled. However, as a search for him was underway, police were informed that his body was found in an under-construction house at Sadarpur village in Rohaniya. “We are working to piece together the events and uncover the motive behind these deaths,” said Bhelupur Station House Officer (SHO) Vijay Kumar Shukla.

Police sources said the possibility that Rajendra died by suicide would also be probed. Police also said that in 1997, Rajendra had been booked on charges linked to the murder of his father, elder brother, his brother’s wife and a security guard. “He had served time in jail before being released on bail,” said a senior officer.

Rajendra was running a liquor shop and also had around 20 tenants. According to the police, on Tuesday morning, Rajendra’s domestic help, Reeta, arrived for work and noticed that the house was not locked from the inside. When she entered, she found the bodies of four family members lying in pools of blood.

Neetu Gupta’s body was on the ground floor and the other three bodies were found on the first floor, said SHO Shukla. The police were informed and forensic and dog squad teams soon reached the spot. The bodies have been sent for postmortem examination and the reports are awaited.

Shukla added that Rajendra’s mother, who said she was in another part of the house at the time, also claimed that she did not hear any gunshots. “We are collecting details of the previous cases linked to Rajendra Gupta. His mother was also a complainant in one of those cases,” said Shukla.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Varanasi) Gaurav Banswal added that Rajendra Gupta’s mother said that a family dispute had been “ongoing for the past few years” and suggested that the deaths might be a fallout of this conflict. A detailed investigation has been launched, police said.