Almost 24 hours since the armed break-in, a semi-hostage situation, a police rescue operation, and an encounter left two assailants dead, the quiet and plush neighbourhood of Gurgaon’s Palam Vihar is yet to come to grips with Friday night’s events.

While the there are contradictory reports on who called the police after five assailants entered the house of Maruti Udyog Limited general manager Anup Chaturvedi on Friday night, the police are tightlipped on how they managed to evacuate seven family members even as they kept the two armed intruders inside. The two — they have not been identified yet — were killed in a gunbattle with the police.

In fact, even the family is clueless how the men entered — the security guard has reportedly told police that the five forced their way in when the gate was unlocked to let in the car of Chaturvedi’s son Ankur, 18.

This was around 9.30 pm.

By 10.30 pm, the police had rescued all seven family members, including children, and the encounter began by 11 pm. Within 45 minutes, the two were shot dead.

The police recovered a countrymade 9-mm pistol and a knife.

“The men asked us to give them all cash, jewellery and valuables,” Chaturvedi said on Saturday. “We gave them whatever they asked for.”

The family claims Chaturvedi’s wife was carrying her cellphone and made a quick call to the Police Control Room (PCR) in the melee. “The robbers probably did not realise she had made a call,” Chaturvedi said, “and while they were collecting the valuables, I escaped from the rear door.

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