Out-of-job Ghaziabad techie who killed wife, 3 kids was drug addict, police teams formed to nab him

The police have formed three teams to nab the unemployed software engineer who allegedly killed his wife and three children here, the police said on Tuesday. On the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, Sumit Kumar, an out-of-job engineer, served sedative-laced drinks to his wife Anshu Bala (32), son Prathimesh (5), daughter Akriti and son Arav (twins aged 4 years) and then slit their throats, Superintendent of Police (city) Shlok Kumar said.

Sumit Kumar was a drug addict and was under severe financial crisis. He was working with UST Global at Bengaluru but had to resign after the company upgraded its software and he was unable to work with it, the SP said.

After killing them, he also posted a confession video on the family WhatsApp group and informed about the murders to his brother-in-law over phone.  He then left the house at 3 am and is untraceable since then, he said. Sumit Kumar had further said in the video that he will commit suicide, for which he had purchased poison. However, the SP said, the video appears misleading.

He said medical store owner Mukesh, who was arrested Monday, has denied selling potassium cyanide to Sumit Kumar.

Kumar, a native of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, had married Anshu Bala in 2011. He lost his job in December last year, since then he was depressed and in debt, Shlok Kumar said.