Lucknow: A day after a 45-year-old doctor, Arun Kumar Singh, allegedly killed his wife, son and daughter before ending his life in Rae Bareli, investigators on Wednesday said that the doctor had sedated the trio before killing them.
Their bodies were recovered from their home in the Modern Rail Coach Factory township at 11.45pm on Tuesday. Singh worked as an eye specialist in the rail coach factory. Police said Singh was battling severe depression.
Investigators said that they found empty strips of sedatives in the room where the bodies were recovered and added that all the four had died at least 48 hours before their bodies were recovered.
Blood-stained tile cutters, hammers, used insulin vials and syringes were recovered from the room but it was yet to be established as to which of these items were used by the doctor to kill his family members and to end his life.
Superintendent of police, Rae Bareli, Alok Priyadarshi said that on the basis of circumstantial evidence, it appeared that the doctors gave sedatives to his family members and then murdered his wife Archana (40), son Arav (4), and daughter Areeba (11), by bludgeoning them with a hammer. He then slit his own wrist and hanged himself.
A six-member panel has been constituted to conduct the post-mortem examination.
The deaths came to light after Dr Singh did not show up for work on Monday and Tuesday. Hospital staff visited his house on Tuesday night and found the doors locked from inside. When they peeped through the window, they found Singh hanging from the ceiling and alerted the police.
When the police entered the house, they also found the bodies of the doctor’s wife and children on a bed. The doctor used a bedsheet to hang himself from the ceiling fan.
Inspector general of police, Lucknow range, Tarun Gauba, visited the scene and reviewed the investigation.
Archana’s father, Jai Prakash Singh, said that he spoke to his daughter on Sunday and everything seemed fine. Local residents expressed shock over the tragic incident and said that the children were cheerful and carefree.
“Archana and Arun were married in 2008 and they were a happy couple. We had a marriage in the family on December 8,” said Ashok, brother of the doctor.
