A 70-year-old retired IAS officer, Rakesh Agarwal, was found dead with his throat slit at his home in Bhopal on Wednesday (September 30, 2026), police said.

An investigation was underway to ascertain the motive behind the murder, they said the role of a domestic help was suspected.

Police received information about the incident at around 5 a.m. The crime took place in Suraj Nagar under the Ratibad police station area.

Agarwal lived in the house with his wife. At the time of the incident, she was asleep in another room, an official from Ratibad police station said.

Senior police officers reached the spot soon after receiving information about the incident.

Preliminary investigations pointed to a domestic help who has been missing since the incident, he said.

According to the official, a new domestic help had been hired by Agarwal’s family just two days earlier and is also untraceable.

A search was underway for the suspect. Police were also probing the motive behind the murder and other aspects of the case, the official added.