Ludhiana: The murder of an elderly couple in a locked house could be an inside job by those who intercepted family’s phone calls and tried to impersonate the wife using a highly private family nickname.The decomposing bodies of Kuldeep Singh, 70, and his wife Harmeet Kaur, 69, were found on Saturday in their Janata Nagar home. Investigators believe the couple was bludgeoned to death in their sleep about 36 hours before discovery.The investigation took a chilling turn when relatives revealed they had phoned the couple a day before the bodies were found.A cousin, Narinder Singh, said a relative named Davinder had dialled Kuldeep’s phone on Friday. A man with an unfamiliar voice answered, claimed to be Kuldeep, and hung up abruptly, stating he was out drinking and would call back later.An unknown woman answered a subsequent call . When questioned, she identified herself as “Debo”— Harmeet Kaur’s childhood nickname. “It was her pet name before marriage, and not everyone knows about it,” Narinder Singh said, adding that the family was unaware of any ongoing property disputes or rivalries.The victims’ mobile phones were abandoned near the house. Neighbours found the devices on Saturday and handed those over to police.Davinder Singh discovered the bodies on Saturday morning after arriving at the home to find the main gate bolted from the inside. Detecting a foul odour, he alerted the cops, who breached the property through a back door.Inside, police found the couple partially on the bed, having suffered multiple severe blows to the face and head.Deputy commissioner of police (rural) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said preliminary evidence pointed to “the involvement of some acquaintance.” The area’s CCTV cameras have captured footage of a man and a woman suspected of carrying out the attack.Police are working to identify and trace the pair, while the couple’s daughters are flying to India to assist the investigators.
