Rajasthan bizman stabs to death jeweller, wife over financial row before killing self on NY eve in MP

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A businessman from Rajasthan stabbed to death a jeweller and his wife over a financial transaction and then fatally shot himself with a firearm in the couple's house in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur city on New Year's Eve, police said on Thursday.

The incident occurred at around 8.30 pm at a house located in the Gol Chauraha area on Wednesday night when the couple was in a joyous mood and waiting to bid a goodbye to 2025, they said.

The New Year celebrations turned into tragedy when businessman Vikas Soni, a resident of Nimbahera in Rajasthan, attacked jeweller Dilip Jain and his wife Rekha with a knife over a financial transaction, leading to the duo's death, Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Meena told reporters.

Soni (aged around 45) later fatally shot himself using a firearm, said the SP.

The businessman had arrived in Mandsaur from Nimbahera on a scooter, which has been seized, Meena informed, adding police have sealed the room where the twin murder and suicide took place.

Family members of the victims were being questioned and the room will be opened in their presence to check if any jewellery or cash was kept inside, he said.

Following the incident, members of the Jain community briefly stopped the hearse carrying the bodies of the couple, who was in their mid to late 50s, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Chowk in the city and submitted a memorandum to the local administration seeking an impartial probe into the incident.

Bullion traders in Mandsaur kept their shops closed for half a day on Thursday to protest against the murders.