Bihar: Businessman shoots wife, daughter and self

PATNA: A businessman allegedly shot dead his wife and minor daughter in their sleep before shooting himself in their Kidwaipuri house under the Kotwali police station area in the state capital on Tuesday morning.
The dead were identified as Nishant Saraf, his wife Alka Saraf and daughter Ananya (8). The couple was in early 30s. Their four-year-old son Ishant also sustained bullet injuries and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.The family had returned from a trip to Europe last week.
A suicide note and three empty cartridges were recovered, Patna zonal IG Sunil Kumar said. “No reason has been mentioned in the short suicide note in which Nishant wrote that none in his family should be held responsible for the incident. The suicide note was found pinned on the study board of children in the adjoining room. Further investigations are on,” Kumar said.
All four had bullet injuries in their heads. Alka and Ananya were found lying on the bed with their heads on pillow. Police suspect they were shot in sleep. Nishant’s body was lying at their feet with head hanging out of the bed. Police said Nishant’s pistol was found near his left palm. He had an arms licence.
Nishant hails from a noted business family of state and dealt mainly in textile business. The family owned Dholi Sati Retail Mall at Khaitan Market, two textile shops at Maroofganj in Patna City and Nala Road and a large jewellery shop of a noted brand at Boring Canal road.
His relative Raj Kumar Agarwal told TOI that the Sharaf family had ancestral residence at Ram Bagh in Patna City and had constructed the three-storey house at Kidwaipuri hardly four years ago.
SSP Garima Malik said prima facie it seems that Nishant committed suicide after shooting others. “The room was locked from inside. When neither Nishant nor his wife and children came out of the bedroom till 8.30am, other family members opened the door by using a separate key and found them lying in a pool of blood on the bed. Ishant was breathing that time. Family members said they had not heard any gunshot,” the SSP said.
Police sources said the cellphones of Nishant and Alka might give some clue in the case. Nishant, his elder brother Vicky Saraf and father Ashok Saraf lived on the second floor of the building while Ashok’s youngest brother Manoj Saraf with his two sons and a daughter lived on the first floor.
Ashok’s two other brothers — Kishore Saraf and Anup Saraf — live at their Ram Bagh and Fraser Road residences, respectively. Nishant owned the newly opened mall while the three other shops were owned by Vicky and cousins Raunak and Aman, their family friend Sanjeev Deora said.