A brother and sister from Hyderabad were found dead inside a locked hotel room in Varanasi on Tuesday, with blood oozing from their mouths, empty medicine wrappers scattered across the room. Rs 6.6 lakh in cash was also recovered from their belongings.
Police are treating the case as a suspected suicide, though no suicide note has been found so far.
According to officials, the siblings — Ganesh Goud Gunlapally (46) and his sister Dhanalakshmi Gunlapally (38) — had checked into the hotel three days ago, reportedly to visit the temple town in Uttar Pradesh. They had largely remained inside their room since arrival and had barely stepped out over the past two days.
Hotel staff grew suspicious on the scheduled day of checkout when repeated phone calls to the room went unanswered. After receiving no response, the management alerted the police.
When hotel authorities opened the room using a master key in the presence of police, the bodies of the man and woman were found lying on the floor near the bed. Blood was seen oozing from their mouths. Several medicines and empty wrappers were scattered on a table, raising suspicion that the duo may have consumed poisonous substances.
During a search of their belongings, police recovered Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, a passport, a laptop, and Rs 6,61,000 in cash. Based on the identification documents, the deceased were identified as residents of the Sitaphal Mandi area of Hyderabad-Secunderabad. Police said the siblings were identified through details mentioned on their ID proofs, including their father’s name.
Preliminary investigations revealed no signs of forced entry or struggle inside the room.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Gaurav Bansal, who inspected the scene, said no suicide note was found. “Prima facie, the case appears to be one of suicide. Both bodies were lying on the ground, and blood was seen coming out of their mouths. Some medicines were recovered from the room. It seems to be a case of poisoning, but the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the post-mortem report,” he said.
The bodies have been sent for autopsy, and efforts are underway to contact their family members in Hyderabad, officials added. Police are also examining CCTV footage from the hotel premises and questioning staff to ascertain the sequence of events leading up to the incident.
