From then on, family friends and relatives now believe, the assailants simply walked into the sleeping house. The rooftop has a single room occupied by a disabled relative of the Garg family. The intruders peeped inside but decided to ignore it. They pushed open the terrace door -- kept unlocked to facilitate the movement of the relative -- and tiptoed down the first flight of stairs. On reaching the gallery of the first floor, one of them attempted to open a door but found it bolted from inside. Prem Raj Garg's two sons Arun and Kamal and their wives Yogita and Indu with three children slept on undisturbed. The intruders then ambled down the second flight of stairs and walked into the ground floor bedroom, occupied by the senior Garg, 62, and his wife Sarla. Sleeping with them were the three children of their eldest son -- Tarun, Rohit and Guddan.

Suddenly, something brushed Sarla's arm and she awoke. Seeing shadows in the dark, she began screaming. Prem Raj got up and so did her eldest son Ajay and his wife Anita, who were sleeping in the adjoining bedroom. The covered veranda on the ground floor, just outside the bedrooms, became a battleground as the four family members began grappling with the intruders. It was 3.30 a.m..

The rest of the family on the first floor slept on, what with their door shut and a noisy air cooler drowning out all sound. The assailants first took out their knives and tried to stab the father and son. The two feinted the thrusts. The intruders began retreating but pulled out their guns and opened fire. A bullet caught Garg on the left side of his chest, Ajay (36) was hit on the right side of the chest which punctured his lung and Anita (33) was shot on the right side of the face. Garg died on the spot and Ajay succumbed later to his injuries. Anita is battling for life at the Jaipur Golden Hospital. Sarla (55) received injuries on the head, caused by a hit from a blunt instrument, and is recuperating.

Without picking up anything from the house, the men began retracing their steps. By that time, Garg's second son Arun had got up after hearing the gunshots. Following the noise made by the retreating intruders, he went upstairs and saw them climbing down the iron grill. He picked up a lathi lying on the rooftop and hit one of them. The man fell to the ground but he managed to pick himself up and fled with his accomplices in different directions. A neighbour who lives opposite the backlane, says: ``I saw some men climbing down the grill. They were dressed in denim shirts and jeans. Since I was not wearing my glasses, I could not see their faces.''

Says Satyendra Garg, DCP (northwest): ``The iron grills, instead of acting as a deterrent, provided the burglars easy access into the house. We suspect that they were a gang of burglars. They left behind a small iron rod which has a hook at the end. This is usually used to break into a house. We have also found the scabbard of a khukhri, buttons from a denim shirt and a shoe of foot size six. The men were short in height and probably belong to the hills.''

The DCP added that there were four security guards in the area, three of whom were manning the gates while one of them was patrolling the colony. However, none of them heard a thing. He said that their job was made easier by the fact that the houses on both sides of the Garg residence were unoccupied.