A horrific discovery in the South Malaka area of Prayagraj has left investigators baffled after four members of a wealthy business family were found dead inside their locked home. The grim scene came to light on Tuesday when neighbours, alerted by a persistent and foul odour emanating from the residence near the Sabzi Mandi intersection, contacted local police.
Upon breaking into the premises, officers discovered the bodies of 70-year-old businessman Virendra Vaishya, his 65-year-old wife Anita, and their 45-year-old daughter Meenakshi in various rooms. A fourth body, later identified by relatives as the couple’s son Abhishek, was discovered in a shop attached to the ground floor of the building.
According to the police investigation, all the deceased family members have been identified; their names are Virendra Kumar Vaishya (70), his wife Anita Vaishya (65), daughter Meenakshi (45), and son Abhishek Vaishya. The police said that the bodies of Virendra, Anita and Meenakshi were found inside the family home. The dead body of Abhishek, however, was later recovered from a nearby family-owned shop.
As the police investigated the scene, the dead bodies of the family members that had begun decomposing were found. Officers noted that the evidence suggests that the entire family may have been murdered, as there were visible bruising marks on the bodies that appear to have been decaying for several days. The police said that it has begun investigating the murder angle.
In a statement to the press, Additional CP Ajay Pal Sharma said, “An investigation will be conducted to determine the reason behind the incident. It is being assessed that the body may be of Abhishek, as the body appears to be quite old. However, the exact identification will be confirmed only after the post-mortem report.”
A Cryptic Message
The investigation took a sinister turn when authorities recovered a cryptic handwritten note on a piece of cardboard near the victims. The message, which read, “Bunty, Babli and the daughter-in-law killed us,” has become a central piece of evidence that detectives are now racing to decode.
Police are currently working to determine whether the note was a genuine dying declaration left by one of the victims or a calculated distraction planted by the perpetrators to mislead the ongoing probe. Senior officials have not yet made any official comment regarding the condition of the bodies, though preliminary examinations have identified significant injury marks on all four deceased.
Who Were the Victims?
The victims were wealthy businessmen who were well-known in the locality, as the family owned and rented out twelve shops on the ground floor of the property. Residents expressed deep shock at the brutality of the incident, noting that Abhishek had been missing for several days with his mobile phone switched off before the discovery of the bodies.
The police have formed three specialised teams to manage the case, focusing on forensic analysis and the reconstruction of the family’s final hours. Authorities are currently reviewing footage from over 80 CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity to track any suspicious movement near the residence during the time the house was locked from the outside.
While the “Bunty and Babli” reference, often used in Indian pop culture to describe pairs of con artists, has drawn significant media and public attention, investigators are keeping an open mind regarding the motive. ACP (Law and Order) Ajay Pal Sharma confirmed that the cause of death will be definitively established only after the completion of the post-mortem reports.
In addition to the handwriting analysis of the note, police are heavily weighing the possibility of a property dispute, with initial reports suggesting the family’s estate was valued at several crores of rupees.
