Man kills his father, mother, sister as they slept; arrested

After the murders, the accused staged a scene, pretending to have gone for a morning walk and returned to discover the bodies, police said

- Jignasa Sinha

A 20-year-old man was arrested for allegedly murdering his parents and sister while they slept at their home in south Delhi's Neb Sarai on Wednesday morning over domestic differences and a property dispute, police said.

In a series of chilling murders, police said the accused, Arjun Tanwar, moved from room to room, killing each of his family members with a knife at around 5am.

He then staged a scene, pretending to have gone for a morning walk and returned to discover the bodies. Police said he called them at 6.53am, claiming his family had been killed.

The victims - Rajesh Tanwar, 51, a retired Army Naik Subedar, his wife Komal Tanwar, 46, and their daughter Kavita Tanwar, 23-were found with their throats slit in their bed. Relatives said the couple had planned to celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary on the day of the crime.

Kavita, a karate black belt preparing for the UPSC exams, was found on the ground floor, while her parents were upstairs.

Arjun is a second-year student at Delhi University's Moti Lal Nehru College and is studying BA in Political Science. Police said he also won a silver medal in boxing in a Delhi Olympics state-level championship.

Police said Arjun initially tried to mislead investigators by claiming he had gone for a morning walk and returned to find his family dead. He called the police at 6.53am, reporting the murders.