Daijiworld Media Network - Saharanpur

Saharanpur, Jan 20: In a shocking incident, police recovered the bodies of five members of a family, including a couple and their two minor sons, from their residence in Kaushik Vihar colony under the Sarsawa police station limits of Saharanpur district on Tuesday morning.

The deceased have been identified as Ashok Rathi (40), a land surveyor, his wife Ajanta (37), his mother Vidyawati (70), and their two sons Kartik (16) and Dev (13). Police said all five bodies were found lying in a single room of the house.

According to officials, three loaded country-made pistols were recovered from near Ashok Rathi’s body. Preliminary examination revealed that all the deceased sustained gunshot wounds to the head, fired from very close range.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ashish Tiwari said police received information early Tuesday about multiple deaths at the residence. Following this, Saharanpur DIG Abhishek Singh, SSP Ashish Tiwari, SP (Rural) Sagar Jain and a forensic team rushed to the spot and initiated investigation.

“The pistols found at the scene are country-made. We are verifying whether they were licensed. The case is being investigated from all possible angles,” the SSP said.

Police are also collecting details about Ashok Rathi’s family background and examining CCTV footage from the surrounding areas to trace possible leads. Samples have been collected by the forensic team for further analysis.

According to police, Ashok Rathi had secured the land surveyor post on compassionate grounds following his father’s death and was posted at Nakur tehsil. His two sons were studying in classes 10 and 11.

The house has been sealed to prevent any tampering with evidence. All five bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and further investigation is in progress, police added.