LUCKNOW A government school principal and his wife were hacked to death on Monday night on the campus of a private school they founded in UP’s Sultanpur district, police said on Tuesday. The police were probing possible links to a teachers’ union election and an alleged family land dispute.
Both victims appeared to have been attacked with sharp-edged weapons. A blood-stained spade was found near Vinita’s body, while an axe and a knife were also recovered from the premises. Police were examining whether the election could have triggered a dispute. Vinita had also contested the previous district panchayat election. A second line of inquiry relates to the family’s ancestral property. However, police had not yet established the sequence of events or the motive.
The deceased were identified as Mukesh Singh, 45, principal at Composite School, Khanuhat, and his wife Vinita Singh, 43. The family owns around 35 bighas of land in the village and police were verifying local accounts of any dispute over the property. Investigators were also examining the possibility that Vinita was attacked inside the school room and Mukesh fled after the assault, only to be chased and killed around 150 metres away.
The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination, said police.
Several teams have been formed and are working on the case.
We are also in contact with the family and the case will be worked out soon,” said Sultanpur SP Vineet Jaiswal. “Information was received on Tuesday morning about the bodies of a husband and wife.
Police teams were questioning school staff, villagers and relatives and examining evidence collected from the crime scene as the investigation continued.
