Cops hint at 'spiritual' practice behind death of 11 members of Delhi family; relatives seek CBI probe

Relatives of the family of 11, who were found dead under mysterious circumstances in Burari area in Delhi, have demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The relatives, who hail from Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh, ruled out the possibility of suicide.

However, the Delhi Police has hinted at the possibility of some spiritual or mystical practice by the family members who were found dead. Following the initial investigation into the case, the police said, “During search of the house, certain hand-written notes have been found which point towards observance of some definite spiritual/mystical practices by the whole family.”

“Coincidentally, these notes have strong similarity with the manner in which the mouths, eyes etc of the deceased were tied and taped. The same is being investigated further to establish its links with the deaths,” a police official told news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, Adityanath Sisodia, a relative of the deceased, told Zee News that he had attended an event with the family members on June 17 and they all seemed fine, without any indication of stress. He further said that he also had a conversation with them on telephone on Saturday and everything appeared to be normal.

The case has been transferred to the crime branch for further investigation.

"Case has been transferred to us (crime branch) and we've inspected the site. Hand-written letters that have been recovered suggest spiritual angle to the deaths. Further investigation will reveal more," said Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner Police (Crime).

While 10 bodies were found hanging from the roof in the courtyard of the house, the body of Narayana, a 75-year-old woman, was found on the floor. The bodies were blindfolded and gagged.

Of the victims, there were two brothers identified as Bhupinder and Lalit Singh. While the former ran a grocery store, the latter was a carpenter. Both operated their businesses from their family home.

"Their shop would open by 6 am every morning but when it did not till 7.30 am today, a neighbour checked and found the main door of their residence open, prompting him to inform the police," Joint Commissioner of Police Rajesh Khurana had said earlier.

The police are leaving nothing to chance and are investigating the case both from the angle of a suicide as well as murder.

The dead have been identified as 75-year-old woman Narayana, 60-year-old Pratibha, 30-year-old Priyanka, 46-year-old Bhupi, 42-year-old Savita, 24-year-old Neetu, 18-year-old Meenu, 12-year-old Dhruv, 42-year-old Lalit, 38-year-old Tina, 12-year-old Shivam.