Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Months after the gruesome murder of Kiran and Varsha Dhakad rocked Laxmi Parisar Colony, police have pieced together the full story and it’s as chilling as it is tragic.
In a shocking twist, it was a sniffer dog that exposed the killer hiding in plain sight: Kiran’s own son, Harsh.
The 20-year-old, who had initially claimed he was away at a temple in Raisen, had staged the murders to look like a robbery gone wrong. Harsh had even returned home the next morning, weeping for his mother and sister in front of stunned neighbours.
But in this follow-up investigation, police confirmed how the crime began with humiliation. Harsh, who had just passed Class 12, was in a secret relationship with a girl from school. When his mother and sister caught them at home and thrashed the girl, it triggered rage and revenge.
Police said that Harsh then roped in his friend Rajendra, and the two hatched a plan to eliminate both women. On the night of the murder, Harsh bludgeoned his mother and sister with an iron rod, ransacked the house to simulate a robbery, and fled with Rajendra to a hotel in MP Nagar, where they drank through the night.
The breakthrough came when a police sniffer dog brought to the crime scene ignored any unfamiliar trail and walked straight to Harsh. This immediately raised red flags.
Suspicions deepened when Harsh’s statements started contradicting themselves. During questioning, he broke down and confessed to the crime. Police later recovered the iron rod used in the killings and confirmed Rajendra’s role as an accomplice.
Residents of the quiet, well-to-do colony remain shaken. The Dhakad family had been seen as respectable, and the idea that a young man could kill his own mother and sister over a love affair has left many stunned.
Harsh and Rajendra have since been arrested and charged with double murder. The case, now closed from the investigative end, stands as one of Shahpura’s most disturbing crimes in recent memory.
Revenge killings
Motive: Revenge after mother and sister beat Harsh’s girlfriend
Method: Iron rod attack staged as a robbery
Cover-up: Claimed he was at a temple in Raisen
Cracked by: Sniffer dog that led cops straight to him
