The sound of the Hanuman Chalisa playing on a television inside the house, coupled with heavy traffic noise outside, may have masked the gunshots when Manas Bajpai killed his sister and himself at his residence at Husadiya crossing on Thursday, neighbours said.
The group then went to the terrace to check if anyone was inside. His maternal uncle’s son then arrived and we broke open the door together. Ankur added that when they entered the house, the Hanuman Chalisa was playing on the television. Neighbours described Manas Bajpai as a polite person who would regularly greet them.
When they could not see anyone, they broke open the door and found the occupants unconscious, Luv Kush said. Ankur, a neighbour, said they initially did not know that a shooting had taken place inside the house. We found them dead, with a pistol lying nearby,” he said. Ankur said they initially tried to contact Bajpai’s wife as they were unaware of what had happened inside the house. “It was only after the police arrived that we came to know that she had been killed first,” he said. Both neighbours said the house’s location along a busy road meant there was considerable noise outside. “Hanuman Chalisa was playing on the TV, due to which the sound of the gunshots was not heard,” he said. However, Ankur said he appeared disturbed in recent months over his sister’s treatment and a long-standing marital dispute.
