Bullets fired under the cover of firecrackers:Husband, wife and daughter killed together inside apartment, no one heard gunshot

In today’s Madhya Pradesh Crime Files, the story revisits the shocking triple murder case from Ratlam that stunned the entire state in 2020. Three members of a family were found dead inside a flat in Rajiv Nagar, including 20-year-old Divya Solanki. All three victims had been shot dead, but the most chilling part was that no one living in the four-storey building heard the sound of gunfire. The case became so sensational that then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan personally monitored the investigation. Investigators were left with several unanswered questions — why was an ordinary family targeted so brutally, how did nobody notice the murders, and who was behind the killings? Open door revealed a scene of horror It was around 9 am on November 26, 2020. The lanes of Rajiv Nagar in Ratlam were buzzing with routine morning activity. Milk vendors were making rounds and temple bells echoed across the locality. Meanwhile, death had already entered a second-floor flat in a four-storey building. Soumya, a nurse living on the third floor, was getting ready for duty when she noticed the flat door slightly open. She called out to Divya, but there was no response. As soon as she pushed the door open, she froze in shock. Divya’s body was lying on the floor. The room was soaked in blood and household items were scattered everywhere. A short distance away lay the body of Divya’s mother, Sharda. Before Soumya could recover from the shock, she entered another room and found the third body — Divya’s father, Govindram Solanki. Gunshots hidden by festival firecrackers The entire neighbourhood gathered within minutes after Soumya screamed for help. Police and forensic teams rushed to the spot soon after receiving information. Investigators found that all three victims had been shot dead. Divya and her mother were found in one room, while Govindram’s body was discovered in another. The biggest mystery was how nobody in the building heard the gunshots. During the investigation, police discovered that the murders had taken place between 8 pm and 9 pm on November 25 — the night of Dev Deepawali. The locality was filled with the sound of firecrackers as residents celebrated the festival. Police believe the killer used the festive noise as cover, entered the flat, shot the family one by one, and escaped unnoticed. The sound of gunfire was drowned out by the crackers, indicating that the murders were carefully planned. Investigation focused on three angles Fifty-year-old Govindram Solanki ran a salon business and lived in the rented flat with his wife Sharda and daughter Divya. Divya was pursuing nursing studies. Police investigated the case from three major angles. Love affair angle Apart from her studies, Divya was also assisting her elder sister Mona in some work related to the electricity department. Investigators suspected that an obsessed admirer may have carried out the murders after failing to win Divya over. Land dispute and old rivalry Police also learned that Govindram had recently sold land worth nearly Rs 20 lakh. Investigators examined financial transactions and possible personal enmities linked to the deal. Robbery angle The house appeared ransacked, suggesting that someone had been searching for something. However, investigators questioned why an entire family would be murdered if robbery was the only motive. Even after 24 hours, police had failed to identify what, if anything, had been stolen from the house. 20,000 mobile numbers scanned for clues With no immediate breakthrough, police launched a technical investigation. Data from nearly 20,000 mobile numbers active in the area on the night of the murders was analysed. Investigators examined call records, location details and CCTV footage from nearby areas. That is when the first major clue emerged. One CCTV clip showed two young men riding a scooter between 9 pm and 10 pm on the night of the murders. The scooter matched the one that had gone missing after the crime. Police tracked the scooter through multiple CCTV cameras and eventually located it abandoned behind a temple. 200 CCTV cameras and a chilling discovery After examining footage from nearly 200 CCTV cameras, police discovered that the suspects had changed clothes on the way before escaping on another scooter. Investigators then began identifying the suspects. As soon as the face of one of the youths became clear, the investigation team was stunned. The man seen in the footage was not an ordinary criminal, but allegedly a psychopathic killer known for targeting victims with calculated precision. Yet several questions still remained unanswered. Why did he choose this particular family?
Did he have any connection with Divya?
Or was there an even darker motive behind the killings?
Who else was involved in the triple murder? The answers would unfold in the next part of Crime Files.