19-year-old who killed family was addicted to online game

New Delhi: A 19-year-old man, arrested for allegedly killing his parents and sister, was addicted to online game PUBG and had rented a room in Mehrauli, where he spent time with his friends after bunking classes, said a senior police officer.

Suraj alias Sarnam Verma allegedly killed his father Mithilesh, mother Siya, and sister in the early hours on Wednesday and then ransacked the house to make it look like robbery. However, he was arrested later in the evening on Wednesday.

The officer said the accused showed no signs of remorse and he constantly kept saying, 'please save me from the law'.

His family members were cremated on Friday, but his relatives did not request the court to allow Suraj to complete the last rites.

Mithilesh's brother and nephew carried out the last rites, he added.
During investigation, the police found that Suraj had a Whatsapp group comprising nine to 10 friends, including girls, where they would talk about bunking classes and made other plans about hanging out, the officer said.

"His friends idolised him and considered him an icon. He had rented a room in Mehrauli along with his friends.

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 online game PUBG," said the officer.

He said around nine to 10 friends of Suraj have been asked to join the investigation.

The officer added that the family members told the police that they always felt Suraj was a "quiet and nice" fellow but neighbours said they would hear noises from the house and there were frequent quarrels in the family over Suraj's behaviour.

Suraj was rebuked for flying kites on Independence Day by his family members, which is what made him hatch a plan to teach them a lesson.

He was holding a grudge since his parents raised an objection about his lifestyle and his disinterest in studies. He had flunked his Class 12 exams and was scolded by them.

"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," said the officer privy to the probe.

Police said his father had got him admission to a private institute in Gurgaon for a diploma in civil engineering so that he could become a contractor like him.

He was upset with his sister since he felt his parents preferred her over him and she used to "leak details about his personal life" to their parents.

Before executing the killings, he behaved normally and even saw photo albums with his parents till midnight.

He woke up at 3 am and stabbed his father multiple times. Awakened by the commotion, his mother, who was sleeping in the same room, raised an alarm but he stabbed her once, police said.

He then went to his sister's room and stabbed her in the neck. His mother came there and tried to save her daughter, but he stabbed her and even stabbed his sister in the stomach, they added.

He then ransacked the house and washed off his fingerprints from the knife and then alerted neighbours.

Police said a few years back, Suraj had staged a fake kidnapping and fled the home but developed cold feet after he thought how he would sustain without money.