Amethi (UP), Oct 4 (PTI) Police on Friday arrested the main accused in the fatal shooting of a Dalit school teacher, his wife and two minor daughters here, with officials saying that the incident was a fallout of an illicit relationship gone sour.
“The main accused Chandan Verma was arrested near a toll plaza in Noida. He was on his way to Delhi,” said Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh.
He also said the accused had tried to end his life by shooting himself after killing the family but the gun misfired.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher’s wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family. Singh said Verma had fired 10 shots from a pistol.
When asked about a social media post by Verma foretelling the death of five people, the SP said, “He intended to shoot himself after killing the family of four. He was the fifth person but his suicide attempt failed.” Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple’s two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi on Thursday.
During the initial investigation, police found that Poonam had lodged an FIR against Verma in Raebareli on August 18 under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and for eve-teasing.
The complainant had also mentioned that “if anything happens to her or her family”, Verma should be held responsible for it.
Addressing a press conference here, the SP said, “Chandan Verma is a resident of Raebareli district. It appears that he reached the house of the victim and got enraged due to some reason after which he began shooting the family members, killing all of them.” Asked about the motive behind the incident, Singh said, “Verma has confessed to killing the family. He said that he had been having an affair with Poonam for the last 18 months. However, some disturbance occurred in the relationship which caused him stress and that led to the killings.” In the wake of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid his condolences to the kin of the deceased, while the opposition launched a sharp attack against the BJP government over the law-and-order situation in the state. PTI COR CDN NSD NSD
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