or almost an hour on Friday morning, 75-year-old Bela Ram and around 15 other elderly East of Kailash residents waited for Manohar Lal Madan to join them for their routine walk in a local park.
Only when a “usually-punctual” Manohar did not turn up for long, did they learn of his unfortunate death. “We cancelled the programme for the day. Our meetings at the park every morning and evening will never be the same without Manohar,” said Ram who knew the deceased for over 15 years.
At 86, Manohar was the eldest in the group of around 15-18 friends, all aged over 65, who spent three hours in the mornings and an hour every evening at the park where they discussed politics, money, their life experiences and the younger generation.
“Having been a banker, Manohar would be the one we would all approach for advice on money matters. He was a very likeable character,” said Subhash Dewan, another friend who had met Manohar just the previous evening.
Manohar and his 80-year-old wife were found murdered at their B-Block residence in East of Kailash around 2 am on Friday. The police said they had no clues yet about the murderer but initial probe has put some Bangladeshi gangs” on their radar. “We have constituted a dozen teams to crack the case,” said Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP (South-East). An investigator said that these gangs, which include some very poor people living in jhuggis, have been very active in the city, particularly the southeast Delhi region. “These Bangladeshi criminals commit robberies in the city and flee to their own country for some months before returning again,” said an investigator.
In the guise of rag pickers or scrap dealers, they conduct a recce of homes before striking. “Recently, their roles in some robberies in Srinivaspuri and Kalkaji have emerged because of which we are probing them,” said an investigator.
The police are also questioning the two maids who visited the three-storey building for work. Police verification of the two maids was not done by the family, said the deceased couple’s eldest daughter-in-law Vandana Madan, who lives with her husband in Mumbai.
“While both have been employed for around four years now, only one of them visited the house daily. The other maid visits only when we visit our home from Mumbai,” said Vandana.
Police said the assailants appeared aware of the house’s design. “They broke the hinges of a sliding door to gain entry. They possibly murdered the elderly couple to prevent any resistance or because they must have woken up. They then ransacked every room and almirahs before heading to the first floor through the in-built stairs,” said the officer.
It is possible the assailants were unaware that the couple’s son was living on the first floor. They happened to disturb his sleep with a flashing torchlight thus exposing themselves, said the police.
Our meetings at the park every morning and evening will never be the same without Manohar