In a gory incident, an unemployed drug-addict allegedly killed five members of his family, including his wife, two children, father-in-law and mother-in-law, by setting them afire in the Punjab’s Jalandhar district on Tuesday.
The police said the incident took place at the Bitlan village in the Mehatpur area of Jalandhar early this morning when the victims were asleep. The accused, Kuldeep Singh, 30, a resident of Khurshedpur village in Ludhiana, allegedly poured patrol on the room where the victims were sleeping and set it on fire. Before setting the room on fire, he locked the door from outside so that none could escape.
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The victims include the suspect’s wife Paramjit Kaur, 28, her son and daughter aged five and seven, respectively, his wife’s parents, Surjan Singh, 58, and Joginder Bai, 54.
Station House Officer (SHO) of the Mehatpur Police Station Mahinder Pal said the suspect Kuldeep Singh, who worked as a labourer, is addicted to drugs and liquor. He is jobless for some time.
Singh had married Paramjit a year ago. It was a second marriage for both of them.
A police official said Paramjit had returned to her parents’ house about six months after her marriage alleging torture by the accused, but he wanted her to return to him. However, Paramjit was reluctant to go back to him. The village panchayat had unsuccessfully tried to resolve the marital discord, but no one anticipated that Kuldeep could resort to such an extreme step.
The police said as the accused is absconding after the incident, a manhunt has been launched to nab him.