Rajasthan Police Probe Into 'Mysterious Deaths' Of 4 Family Members, Who Offered Puja At Mehandipur Balaji Temple

A couple and their children, aged 33 and 31, were found dead in a lodge near Mehandipur Balaji temple.

Dehradun/Dausa:Rajasthan Police on Wednesday intensified their probe into the deaths of four family members from Dehradun, who had gone to offer prayers at Mehandipur Balaji temple on Makar Sankranti.

Deceased, Surendra Kumar Upadhyay (61), his wife Kamlesh (57), son Nitin Kumar (33) and daughter Neelam (31), residents of Bangkhala Chaktunwala in Raipur, boarded a train from Dehradun on January 11 to visit Mehandipur Balaji in Dausa. They were staying in room number 119 in Ramakrishna Dharamshala in Mehandipur. Surendra worked as a driver in Ordinance Factory and his son was an employee at the company.

Upon examining the CCTV footage, police found that the couple and their children had visited the Balaji temple on Tuesday morning and had returned to their lodge at around 8 am. However, Surendra's health deteriorated after returning from the temple after which, the family took him to a nearby hospital on an e-rickshaw. After seeing the doctor, they returned to the lodge at around 6 am.

At around 7 pm, a staff of the lodge, Mohanlal Yogi, went to their room to clean it and saw two persons lying unconscious on the bed and the other two on the floor. He immediately told the the lodge owner, Guddu Sharma, and police were informed. Soon a team from the local police station reached the spot and doctors were called. After examining, doctors declared all four dead.

Police said investigations are on to find out as to what had happened between 6 to 7 pm that all four were found dead.

Dehradun SP Pramod Kumar said after receiving information from Rajasthan Police, a team of Raipur Police was sent to the family's residence in Bangkhala Chaktunwala but it was found locked. On inquiry, it was found that Surendra's brother, Mahendra Kumar lives in Mokampur and he was informed after which, he left for Dausa, he said. "We are in touch with Rajasthan Police and investigations are underway," the SP added.

Police informed Kamlesh's nephew Dr Sushil Upadhyay, a physician about the incident. Dr Upadhyay said the family had last visited Mehandipur Balaji temple two years ago. He said the family had booked a room in the lodge on Nitin's ID and were supposed to leave on January 14 itself.

Dr Upadhyay also clarified that none of them had any illness. Neelam was married but stayed with her parents due to dispute with her in-laws, he said.

"My father Kailashchand talked to uncle and aunt at 7 am on Tuesday and they asked us to take care of the cow and the house. When my father called them at around 7 pm, nobody answered the phone," Sushil said.

Surendra's younger brother Mukesh and elder brother's son have already left for Mehandipur Balaji.

Read more