Man Fatally Shoots Parents, Grandmom And Sister Over Alleged Property Dispute

A 20-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of fatally shooting his parents, grandmother and younger sister over an alleged property dispute.

The suspect, identified as Abhishek Malik, a resident of Rohtak in the northern Indian state of Haryana, admitted to killing his father, Pradeep Malik, 45, mother, Santosh, 40, and maternal grandmother, Roshni Devi, and his younger sister, Neha, 19, on Aug. 23, The Indian Express reported. All the victims died on the spot while the 19-year-old girl later succumbed to her bullet injuries at a medical facility, the outlet reported.

After discovering the dead bodies, a probe was launched and police inspected the surveillance cameras installed near the spot to determine the suspect. Abhishek was arrested after police found "he was changing his statements repeatedly."

"Abhishek was arrested after collecting information regarding his personal conduct, the tension in the family, and financial reasons," a police spokesperson told the outlet.

"As per the investigations conducted till now, Abhishek is our main suspect. He does not have any prior criminal record. As of now, it would not be appropriate for me to say if others were involved in the incident as the probe in the case is ongoing," Rohtak Superintendent of Police, Rahul Sharma, told the Indian Express.

Abhishek is reportedly an undergrad student and their family business was run by his father, brother and brother-in-law.

Sharma told reporters that Abhisek was hiding in a hotel before cops arrested him and that he confessed to the crimes during a police interrogation. "The accused had stayed in a hotel before and after executing the crime. We can’t rule out the possibility of the involvement of other people. The accused has confessed to committing the crime due to property and family disputes. We will ascertain the reasons during his remand," the Hindusthan Times quoted Sharma as saying.

A senior police official told Hindusthan Times that Abhishek told his maternal uncle, who lives nearby, that the door of his house was locked and nobody was answering the bell. His maternal uncle had reportedly asked him to break open the door.