Man kills wife, two kids, parents-in-law in Jalandhar village

Jalandhar, October 18

A man killed his wife, two children, father-in-law and mother-in-law by spraying petrol in the room with a pump while they were all asleep and setting it on fire in the wee hours on Tuesday. He even locked the door of the room from outside so that they could not escape.

The incident occurred at Bitlan village in Mehatpur. The village falls right on the bank of the Sutlej on Jalandhar side. Accused Kali Singh, who hails from Khurshaidpur village of Jagraon, is on the run and the police have been conducting raids to arrest him.

The victims include Paramjit Kaur (28), her son Gurmohal Singh (5), daughter Arshdeep Kaur (7), father Surjan Singh (58) and mother Joginder Bai (54).

Lakhwinder Singh, brother of deceased Surjan Singh, said it was the second marriage of his niece. The accused used to beat up his wife and stepchildren often. He had been insisting that she should leave behind her children with her parents and come with him. Lakhwinder said he heard the screams from the house of his brother.

“When I came out rushing to see what had happened, I saw Kali leaving with some unidentified, armed persons from his brother’s house. When I reached the room, I peeped from the window and I saw huge flames. Everyone was screaming from the place where they were sleeping,” he said.

SP (D) Sarabjit S Bahia said Joginder and Gurmohal died on the spot while the other three were rushed to Nakodar Civil Hospital for treatment. “We even managed to bring two victims to the Jalandhar Civil Hospital, but they too succumbed to the burns,” he said.

“On the basis of CCTV footage, we have arrested some accomplices of the main accused. Kali, too, would be nabbed soon. In the footage, we could see men coming on bikes, unloading the items they needed, returning and then coming again on foot,” he said. A case of murder has been registered.