Patiala, Punjab – In a deeply unsettling incident, three members of a family were found dead inside a Toyota Fortuner parked along a deserted road near Tepla Banur in Patiala district. The victims were identified as Sandeep Singh Rajpal (45), a Mohali-based property dealer, his wife Mandeep Kaur (42), and their 15-year-old son, Abhay Singh.
According to police, all three had gunshot wounds, with blood stains visible across the cabin of the vehicle. Sandeep’s body was found in the driver’s seat, Mandeep in the front passenger seat, and their son in the rear seat.
Initial findings suggest a possible murder-suicide, with investigators exploring whether Sandeep Singh may have fatally shot his wife and son before turning the weapon on himself. A handgun was recovered from the scene, and post-mortem examinations are scheduled for Monday.
The police are, however, keeping all possibilities open, pending full forensic and ballistic analysis. Manjit Singh, a senior police official from Rajpura, confirmed that the son had reportedly been struggling with mental health issues, which may have contributed to the tragic sequence of events.
Farm workers were the first to discover the vehicle and alerted authorities after noticing something suspicious. Teams led by officers Arshdeep Sharma, Hardev Singh, and Jaswinder Pal, along with forensic experts, swiftly responded.
Sandeep Singh was originally from Sikhwala village in Bathinda but had been residing in Mohali for eight years. His brother still lives in their native village, while his sister is settled abroad.
This shocking case has left the local community in grief and disbelief, raising pressing concerns about mental health and domestic crises.