A 70-year-old businessman in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut was shot dead on Thursday morning by two masked robbers who barged into his house in the Brahmpuri area at around 8 am, the police said. The businessman’s 65-year-old wife was also severely injured when she tried to protect her husband.

The police said that while Dhankumar Jain, a trader in sports goods, died on the way to the hospital, his wife Anju is said to be critical.

The police said that the killers are yet to be identified but initial investigations suggest that it could be the handiwork of a person close to the family or somebody who knew the daily routines of those living in the house.

“We are collecting available CCTV footage to identify the killers. It appears to be a case of loot and Jain could have been shot dead, maybe because he identified the assailants. This is still a theory as we are yet to reach any conclusion,” Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police Rohit Singh Sajwan said.

The police said that the suspects knew that the elder son and his wife went on a morning walk daily. The accused entered the house and bolted the room of the younger son, Abhishek, from outside and also locked the Jain’s 10-year-old granddaughter Taashi in a room.

“We have formed two teams and have interrogated the milkman who first saw the two hit by bullets and informed the neighbours,” SSP Sajwan said. The police are yet to make a list of the items stolen from the house.