Tale of greed, blood and gore

GANDHINAGAR: It was a tragedy that shattered Chauhan family completely. After killing his mother Vijayaben and sister Jigisha in a fit of rage, Rikesh Chauhan - a mechanical engineer by profession - hanged himself to death, leaving his wife and two children behind.
The motive for the double murder was money. "Vijayaben had control of the family's properties and business estimated to be worth Rs 1.5 crore and this Rikesh wanted, despite earning very well himself," said KV Algotar, inspector of Sector 21 police station.
"While Rikesh and his wife Tejal were running their electronic weighing scale unit in Sector 25 GIDC, his mother Vijayaben was a senior officer in Jal Sampatti Nigam. She was to retire by the end of September. His sister Jigisha was a computer teacher in Chaudhary High School," said Algotar, adding that money was not an issue for the family.
However, officials added that Rikesh was ambitious and wanted more money to fuel his projects . He did not like his mother and sister spending too much money. Moreover, his name was not mentioned in the will of his father Hasmukhbhai, who passed away in March 2007.
Tejal has told in her statement to police officials that she was aware of the dispute going on in the family for a year soon after demise of his father. However, she did not foresee such an extreme reaction from her husband. "As Rikesh was not considered mature enough by his father, the handling of the property was given to Vijayaben. This rankled Rikesh," said a Gandhinagar police official.
Rikesh had two children - Jaimin, 16, a student of class IX and Kinjal, 8, a class III student, both studying in Gandhinagar. When the incident took place, they were not present at the house.
Relatives of the family told TOI that the Chauhan family was wellrespected in their community as they used to participate actively in all religious activities in and around Gandhinagar. They also used to donate large sums of money for various activities.
The family owned a spacious two-storey house in Sector 30, bought and developed by Hasmukhbhai when he was alive. He also constructed the first floor before Rikesh's marriage. Rikesh and his wife were living on the first floor whereas Vijayaben and Jigisha lived on the ground floor.
Rikesh's name was not mentioned in his father's will :
Rikesh's father, Hasmukhbhai, a government employee also had a flourishing business. Hasmukhbhai died in a road accident in 2007 and power of attorney was given to his wife. Rikesh's name was not mentioned in father's will