An elderly couple, who had gone missing under mysterious circumstances since Wednesday from a village in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district, was found dead inside a trunk at their home, police said. According to police, the harrowing discovery was made at the couple’s house situated in Poonawali village in Udaipur, and the deceased have been identified as Lahri Lal Paliwal (65) and his wife Radha Devi (62).

The couple made a living by selling milk and lived alone at their house, police added.

Bodies found hidden under bedding

Sayra Police Station house officer (SHO) Shaitan Singh Nathawat said the bodies were discovered inside a trunk at the couple’s house. He added that prima facie, the case appears to be that of a murder.

According to police, the bodies had allegedly been wrapped in plastic bags and were then placed inside the trunk. Bedding was then used to cover the trunk in a bid to conceal the bodies. The cops are now questioning neighbours and other people as part of a probe to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Neighbours raised alarm after milk delivery stopped

Notably, the case came to light after neighbours turned suspicious as Paliwal failed to deliver milk as he usually did. A neighbour went to the couple’s house and found the door open, but neither Paliwal nor Radha Devi was there. The neighbours then notified the couple’s son, Manohar, who works in the Rajkot city of Gujarat.

Manohar told the cops he had spoken to his mother over the phone on Tuesday night. However, the next morning, he was informed that both his parents were missing.

After all the efforts to trace the couple went in vain, Manohar approached the police and lodged a missing person report.

Villagers stage protest, demand swift action

On Thursday, the residents of the village staged a protest and surrounded the Sayra police station, raising demands to trace the couple as soon as possible. However, after the discovery of their bodies, the police probe has been launched into a suspected double murder case.

Officials aware of the incident said that the exact motive behind the deaths is unclear as of now and the cops are probing all the aspects of the case. Police are also persevering in efforts to establish the sequence of events leading to the couple’s deaths and determine who was responsible for the same.