On Tuesday night, just as the city was preparing to celebrate Diwali, an elderly couple was brutally murdered with their throats slashed by unidentified assailants in Ghatlodiya’s Rannapark district. According to police sources, robbery appears to be the primary motive for the brutal killings, however other possibilities are being investigated.
The couple, identified as Dayanand Shanbaug (90) and his wife Vijayalakshmi Shanbaug (80), were found murdered in their residence in Parasmani Flats
While the nonagenarian was found on the bed, blood streaming from his slit throat, his wife was brutally murdered on the chair. No arrests had been made in the case as of late last night.
According to senior police officials, the murder was discovered at 8 p.m. on Tuesday when a boy from the neighbourhood chemist shop arrived to deliver medicines requested over the phone. When knocks on the door went unanswered, the boy contacted a neighbour, who proceeded to call the couple, only to find them cruelly murdered.
The couple’s son and wife stayed in a residence in Adalai, while their daughter stayed in a nearby flat with her grandparents. She is reported to have walked out of her house when the incident happened.
Ghatlodiya police, along with teams from the crime branch, forensic experts, and a dog squad, arrived on the crime scene. Zone-1 DCP Ravindra Patel stated that robbery could be the primary motive behind the deaths, despite the fact that they are investigating all possible avenues that could have led to the crime.
Cops said that a cupboard in the elderly couple’s bedroom had been broken into, despite the fact that earrings gracing the elderly woman’s ears were still intact. The brutal murders, on the other hand, robbed the neighbourhood of its festival spirit, as society inhabitants appeared frightened by the killings.
Ketan Shah, residing in Parasmani flats for the past many decades, said this is the first double murder incident in the locality. This is a serious crime and we are all shaken. There is only one CCTV camera at the entrance of the society” said Shah.
Locals said that a food delivery boy was also spotted entering the building late evening.
The incident came as a sad reminder of the brutal murder of an elderly couple in the city’s Hebatpur neighbourhood in March of this year.
Four people killed Ashok Patel and Jyotsna Patel, residents of Bungalow No. 1 in Shantivan Palace Society near Hebatpur Crossroads, on March 5 morning with the intention of robbing them. Later, five people were caught in the case, including four executors and one offender.
This terrible murder in the city has cast doubt on the police’s claims of protecting senior citizens.