The police said that last week's shooting in Gurgaon was the result of a "sudden provocation".

Four days after a security guard killed the wife and injured the son of a judge in a busy Gurgaon market, the police said that the attack was the result of a "sudden provocation". Deputy Commissioners of Police Sumit Kuhar and Sulochana Gajraj officially addressed the media for the first time after the shooting.

Mr Kuhar said that additional sessions judge Krishan Kant Sharma's personal security officer Mahipal Singh lost his temper when the judge's wife Ritu, 38, and son Dhruv, 18, scolded him for being untraceable after they had finished their shopping at the Arcadia Market in Gurgaon's Sector 49 on Saturday.

The DCP said the murder followed this "sudden provocation".

"The mother and son had asked Mahipal to wait near the car until they came back. But on returning, they did not find him. Upset over his absence, Ritu scolded Mahipal Singh while Dhruv asked him to hand over the keys of their car. Angry over their behaviour, the guard first began thrashing Dhruv who was seated on the passenger seat. A few minutes later, he shot him twice," Mr Kuhar said.

"The accused also beat up the judge's wife before shooting her," the officer added.

While the judge's wife died later in hospital, his son is on life support.

"During the interrogation, Mahipal praised judge Krishan Kant Sharma's behaviour towards him," Mr Kuhar said.

The DCP said that the security guard is mentally sound. The officer also clarified that Mahipal hasn't changed his religion, dispelling reports that he had converted to Christianity.

The police said they are not aware of the whereabouts of Mahipal's wife.

Mahipal's uncle Dhaan Singh, however, alleged on Monday that the police had taken away the murder accused's wife and children, along with his ailing mother and brother-in-law.

Dhaan Singh told TV channels that Mahipal took this extreme step possibly because he was angry that his requests for leave were being repeatedly denied. He had applied for leave to attend to his seven-year-old daughter, who was seriously ill.

"He received repeated calls from his wife to come home early to take his daughter to the doctor," Mr Singh said in Rewari.

But the judge rebuked him for this, the uncle said.

According to him, his nephew resented being ordered to run errands for the judge's family.

He also alleged that the accused's family was being pressurised by the judiciary to quickly resolve the case and that they were not being allowed to meet Mahipal.

The accused will be produced in court on Thursday.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)