Delhi: Nirvana Hospital owner and HR head dead in Rohini murder-suicide

A PCR call was received at 7.36 am about a “duo in a white sedan, which was in ignition, with visible bloodstains on the window”. Kukreja was on the driver’s seat, and Mukherjee next to him. Additional DCP (Rohini) Jitender Kumar said the rear seat window was broken to gain access to the car, which is when a revolver was spotted next to the doctor.

Dr Om Prakash Kukreja’s car. (Amit Mehra)

He said, “Some people had gathered by then, and they recognised the doctor and called up his hospital staff, who then identified Mukherjee.” Kukreja is survived by his wife, who is visually impaired, and two children. The husband and wife lived together in the apartment, while their son, an ENT specialist, lives in Dehradun. Kukreja’s daughter, who studied dentistry, is now an interior designer.

Mukherjee lived in a flat in Rohini Sector 18 with her mother and husband. Her son lives in Dubai.

Police said that Mukherjee and Kukreja attended the hospital Tuesday afternoon. In the evening, they both left from their homes to attend a wedding. Kumar said, “We found an invitation card for a wedding in Paschim Vihar in the car, and Mukherjee’s mother said she left home dressed up for a wedding, as did Kukreja.”

Mishra said, “Wedding guests confirmed the two were in attendance, and they left around 11 pm. We are trying to ascertain the time of death and analysing call records to determine the sequence of events afterwards.” Police said that the “two were probably at the spot for many hours with the ignition of the car turned on, as the diesel smoke residue left a black mark on the road”. No suicide note has been recovered so far.

Kukreja’s friend Ashok Yadav told The Indian Express, “There was no financial or personal stress Kukreja was under. I received a call from his son at 8 am; the family is in shock.”

Kukreja’s multi-specialty hospital, which has 10 beds, was 1.3 km from his house. “He used to run a clinic in Samaypur Badli where Mukherjee used to work in the nursing staff. When he opened the hospital in Rohini, she moved there and began handling HR and administrative matters,” said Yadav. The hospital was open on Wednesday, though staff struggled to make sense of the incident. “We have no idea why this happened; we got a call at 8 am about it and rushed there,” a doctor said.

A case under IPC section 302 (murder) has been registered at Prashant Vihar police station.

(Shaardhool Shreenath is an intern with The Indian Express)