A financially-burdened businessman from Delhi, India who wanted to end his own life, but was too scared to do it himself hired four hitmen to kill him so his family could receive a considerable insurance policy.

40-year-old Gaurav Bansal supported his family by operating a ration shop, but because of the Covid-19 lockdown, he was under immense financial burden. The poor state of his business had taken a toll on the man’s mental state, and he was plunged in a deep depression. Unable to see hope at the end of the tunnel, Bansal took out a personal loan of RS 6 lakh ($7,900) and planned to have himself murdered. He originally intended to end his own life, but couldn’t muster the courage to do it, so he contacted four other people to do it, for a price.

On June 10, Police found Gaurav’s body hanging from a tree near outer Delhi’s Najafgarh area. They immediately ruled out suicide because his hands had been tied, so a murder case was registered and an investigation began.

According to deputy commissioner A Koan, one of the four individuals hired by Gaurav to kill him, a juvenile, was tracked down using the businessman’s call records and social media activity. He admitted to carrying out the murder along with three other accomplices identified as Suraj, an 18-year-old student, Manoj (21), a vegetable vendor and Sumit (26), a tailor.

During the interrogation, the accused confessed to the murder, claiming that Gaurav had convinced them that they would be doing him a favor, because the wanted to die and his family would thus receive some much needed insurance money. Initially, the planned to shoot him, but an arms dealer refused to sell a pistol to the juvenile. Then Gaurav Bansal himself allegedly brought them a rope and suggested that they hang him. He paid them Rs 90,000 ($1,200), which the four split among themselves.

“Bansal had hired the minor boy for getting himself killed. The boy roped in his friend, Manoj Kumar Yadav, who in turn roped in Suraj and Sumit Kumar to execute the job. Bansal had paid money to the apprehended persons for getting himself murdered. They have revealed that Bansal had told them that his family will get the insurance money if they killed him,” A Koan told ANI news agency, adding that the victim had met the juvenile on social media.

On the day of the execution, Gaurav traveled to Mohan Garden to meet his killers and choose the spot where he was going to be hanged. When the time came, he asked the four assassins to tie his hands, keep his ID in his pocked to make sure his body was easily identifiable, and finally diverted his phone calls to his brother-in-law’s number.

Gaurav Bansal’s death was originally reported as a suspicious murder, but a couple of days ago, INDIA TV revealed the intricate plan the businessman had put together to end his own life and make sure his family received a payment from the insurance company. Meanwhile, Gaurav’s family is still having  hard time coming to grips with the result of the police investigation.

“The police have not told us anything about this. It is difficult for us to believe that my brother-in-law got himself killed by a juvenile he had met on social media,” Gaurav’s brother-in-law said. “Two days ago, the police had told us that they had caught four suspects but did not tell us about this planned murder story. We will contact the concerned police officers regarding this murder theory.”

The investigation is still ongoing.