After 5 of family shot dead in Varanasi, police looking for missing relative

Varanasi (UP): Two days after a family of five was found dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, police are trying to trace a relative who has gone missing since the incident and will question three tenants who have been traced in Mumbai, an official said.

According to Bhelupur Station House Officer (SHO) Vijay Shukla, a relative of the family, Vicky, who works in Bengaluru and had come to the city for Diwali, is missing and his mobile phone has been switched off. The tenants were, however, traced to Mumbai, he said.

The incident occurred in the Bhaidani area on Monday night, when Rajendra Gupta’s wife Neetu Gupta (45), their sons Navnendra (25) and Subendra (15), and daughter Gaurangi (16) were shot dead while asleep, the official said.

Officials initially zeroed in on Gupta, a liquor businessman who had a murder case pending against him since 1997 and was out on bail, as the main suspect and launched a search for him.

“But later, his body was found in an underconstruction house in the Rohaniya area,” the SHO said.

Rajendra’s mother told the police that there were daily disputes between her daughter-in-law and son due to ongoing family issues, he added.

Three youths from Bihar -- all aged 22-25 -- who had been living on rent in Rajendra’s house were traced to Mumbai, said Shukla. “The police have reached them. They will also be questioned,” he said.

Police said they are working to ascertain the motive behind the killings.