A 45-year-old property dealer shot dead his wife and their son before turning the gun on himself in his car near a village in Punjab's Patiala district on Sunday, police said, adding that the incident appeared to be a suicide. A pistol was recovered from the car.

The victims were identified as Sandeep Singh Rajpal, a property dealer from Sector 109 in Mohali, his wife Mandeep Kaur (42), and their 15-year-old son Abhay Singh. Preliminary investigation suggested that Rajpal may have shot his wife and son in the Toyota Fortuner before taking his own life.

According to authorities, Abhay Singh had been struggling with mental health challenges.

Farmers spotted the stationary vehicle parked in the fields and the bloodied bodies of the victims inside it near Chhngera village and alerted the police, which later reached the spot.

A team comprising DSP Rajpura Manjit Singh, Banur SHO Arshdeep Sharma, Investigation Officer Hardev Singh, ASI Jaswinder Pal and forensic teams launched an investigation at the spot.

The bodies of the victims were sent to Neelam Hospital in Dera Bassi for a post-mortem, which is scheduled for Monday pending the arrival of family members.

DSP Manjit Singh said, "While the incident appears to be a suicide, all angles are being thoroughly investigated."

Rajpal, who was originally from Sikhwala village in Bathinda, had been living in Mohali for the past seven to eight years. His brother resides in their native village and his sister is settled abroad.

Source: India Today