Suraj reportedly killed his parents and sister because they would often scold him for his poor academic performance.

The 19-year-old boy from Delhi who stabbed his father and mother 26 times, and sister seven times, may have been "addicted" to an online game.

According to the police, Suraj alias Sarnam Verma, had rented a room in Delhi where he would spend hours with his friends watching TV and playing online games.

The Delhi Police arrested Suraj on Wednesday evening. He is accused of killing his family members because they would scold him for his poor academic performance.

READ | Unhappy with parents who scolded him, 19-year-old stabs father, mother 26 times

Police said that they have come across a WhatsApp group that Suraj had created. The group, which had 10 of Suraj's friends as members, featured conversations about bunking classes and spending time at Suraj's rented room in Mehrauli.

"His friends idolised him and considered him an icon. He had rented a room in Mehrauli. At the room, they had a TV set and on the day he did not want to attend classes, he would stay at the room from 7 am to 6 pm and play an online game (sic)," a police officer privy to the investigation told news agency PTI. The officer said they have asked Suraj's friends to join the probe.

Speaking about his mental state, the officer said that Suraj "did not show any signs of remorse" but constantly kept requesting them to "save him from the law".

Meanwhile, Suraj's father, mother and sister were cremated on Thursday by his relatives. PTI said the relatives did not request authorities to allow Suraj perform the last rites.

WHY HE STABBED HIS PARENTS, SISTER

Police investigation so far has revealed that Suraj was unhappy because his parents would often scold him for his poor studies. He was irritated because his parents would stop him from going out for parties.

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Angry over this, Suraj decided to "teach his parents a lesson". Police said he attacked his sister because he felt his parents always favoured her more and that she disclosed his secrets to his parents.

On the night of the murder, Suraj first attacked his father and stabbed him eight times. When his mother saw this, she started screaming. To stop her scream, Suraj turned his knife to his mother and stabbed her 18 times. He then strangulated his sister and stabbed her seven times.

Police said that on the night of the triple murder, the family watched TV past midnight. While watching TV, the family members also flipped through their family album. Before going off to sleep, Suraj asked his mother to give him an apple to eat.

At around 3am, Suraj woke up, attacked his father and killed him. After killing all his family members, Suraj began attempts to hide the crime, police said.

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He went to the washroom and washed himself. After this, he arranged all household items in order make it look as though the murders were part of a robbery gone wrong.

Around 5am, when a tenant walked passed Suraj's home, the 21-year-old told him that some robbers had barged into the house, killed his father, mother and sister, and fled with valuables.

Once the Delhi Police began investigating the case, they took Suraj to a police station for questioning. During interrogation, police said, Suraj gave investigators conflicting accounts about what happened on the night of the murders before finally accepting to have committed the crime.

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According to police, Suraj had flunked his Class 12 board exams and his parents had been unhappy about it. "He felt he failed his Boards since his father had asked him to supervise the construction of their house. He was upset about being blamed," PTI quoted an officer privy to the probe.

The officer added that his father then got him admitted to a private institute in Gurgaon for a diploma course in civil engineering. The aim was to ensure that at least he could become a contractor like him.

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