Siblings murdered?

Suspect goes missing

Two brothers were allegedly murdered at their residence in north-west Delhi's Jahangirpuri area on Monday afternoon. The bodies of Sooraj Gupta, 7, and Gopal Gupta, 5, were found hidden under a bed inside the room of 24-year-oldu00a0Ashok Gupta in the house in Jahangirpuri. The chief suspect, is absconding.

The victims' father Raja Ram Gupta and mother Phool Kumari owned the second-floor house in Jahangirpuri. Ashok lived as a tenant in the same building, in the house owned by Raja Ram's father-in-law, said police.

"The incident was reported around 3.50 pm. The children were alone in the house. Raja Ram, who makes a living by driving a three-wheeler, had left for work in the morning and Phool Kumari had gone to market to buy household articles. Sooraj and Gopal had returned from tuitions. According to Phool Kumari, Ashok was present in the house when the incident took place," said a senior police official.

Phool Kumari returned after an hour to find her sons missing, along with Ashok. She then called the police, who found the kids under a bed in Ashok's room. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead on arrival.

The motive behind the murder is not clear so far, said the police. Preliminary investigations revealed that Ashok used to have his meals with the Gupta family. Three days ago, he had a quarrel with Raja Ram and stopped having food with them.

The official said, "Police are investigating the matter from all possible angles. A case of murder has been registered in Jahangirpuri police station."