Police scan footage of CCTV installed opposite Bhatia family’s house; relatives and locals being quizzed about any outside influence on the family

The Delhi Police on Wednesday scanned two-and-a-half hours of CCTV footage recorded on the night of June 30, when 11 members of the Bhatia family allegedly committed suicide at their house in Burari. The footage was recorded by a privately-owned CCTV camera located opposite the house.

On the morning of July 1, Narayan Devi (77), her sons Bhavnesh and Lalit, their wives Savita and Tina respectively, her daughter Pratibha and her grandchildren Priyanka, Nitu, Meenu, and two minor boys were found dead at their residence in north Delhi.

The police said that the CCTV footage shows that the family members brought stools and wires, which were used in the hanging of 10 of the 11 people.

A senior police officer said that at 10 p.m., Savita and her daughter Nitu can be seen entering the house with stools – stacked over each other – in their hands.

At 10.15 p.m., the minor boys can be seen bringing black electrical wires from the plywood shop and going inside the house.

Exactly 24 minutes later, the delivery boy shows up to deliver food. At 10.57 p.m., Bhavnesh takes the dog for a walk and returns seven minutes later. He checks the locks of his shop, adjacent to the house, and goes inside within a minute.

“There is no movement from the family after that. At 5.56 a.m. on July 1, milk packets for their grocery shop were dropped at the gate but no one came to pick them up. Seeing the unusual behaviour, a neighbour entered the house at 7.14 a.m. and saw the bodies hanging,” the officer said.

The police have recovered 10-11 pieces of writing, including loose papers, bunches, registers and notebooks, which appear to be directions for the family.

The first entry was written on July 8 in 2007. Devi’s husband Bhopal Singh passed away in early 2007.

The police suspect that 45-year-old Lalit used to believe that his deceased father was giving him directions.

In one of the last entries made in the last week of June, the process of hanging, in what has been described as “badh tapasya [banyan tree rituals]”, are written step-wise, which include the use of stools, cloth, doctors’ tape, wires and saris.

“It is beyond all doubt that they have done it [hanged] themselves but the investigation is still going on,” the officer said.

The police are now examining the call records of all family members and asking people about their connection with the family to ascertain if anyone knew about the notes or if there was any outside influence.

“Nothing has been found so far. Everyone has said that the Bhatia family was normal, and that they know nothing about the notes,” the officer said.