The police said that Swati called up Soli’s neighbours, who rang his doorbell several times. Sudha cried out in a faint voice. They could not break open the door, and after a while, Sudha who was bleeding, opened the door. Police arrived a few minutes later and found Soli’s body in his office.

The police found bottles of alcohol and glasses strewn around the house, along with packets of Kellogg’s cornflakes.

“The couple had asked Surjeet to get himself verified with the police on Saturday. As he knew the house inside out, it was probably Surjeet who had planned the robbery and killed the victim out of the fear of being caught. He might even have laced the couple’s dinner with poison,” said Dharmendra Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (New Delhi range).

The crime has shocked the neighbourhood with residents questioning the colony’s safety arrangements.

The security guards manning the gate, who let the assailants slip away in Soli’s car, have also come under fire.

An elderly neighbour, who lives in the same lane, said: “The guards are usually drunk at night. After 8 pm, you cannot expect anything from them.”

Soli used to work as a chartered accountant in a firm in Daryaganj. After a heart ailment, he started working from home.