Post News Network
Cuttack: Anadi Sahu (55), the man who had allegedly burnt to death four of his relatives at his rented house at CDA Sector-7 area Thursday evening, succumbed to his burn injuries at SCB Medical College and Hospital Friday. Sahu’s daughter Anita (17) also succumbed to burn injuries at the plastic surgery ward of the hospital Friday.
With these two deaths, the toll in the gruesome fire went up to six. The city police, after stitching up evidences collected during preliminary enquiries, registered a murder case with Anadi Sahu as the accused.
Sahu’s niece Kuni (40), her two daughters and son died on the spot after he set them afire at his house over a domestic dispute Thursday, said police. All the six bodies were consigned to the flames at Khannagar cremation ground after post-mortem Friday.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sanjeev Arora said Sahu had resorted to the crime over a dispute pertaining to his second marriage. A resident of Ichhapur in Bhadrak district, Sahu was residing in a rented house in CDA area along with his son Arun (21) and daughter Anita (17). He had opted for a second marriage with Subhadra Nayak of Budhapanka in Angul after his wife’s death, said police.
With Arun and Anita refusing to recognise his second marriage, Sahu had accommodated Subhadra in another rented house in the city. Kuni, a resident of Bijaynagar under Chandbali police limits in Bhadrak, was also opposed to Sahu’s second marriage, police said.
Kuni and her three children had reached Sahu’s CDA residence recently to visit Baliyatra fair.
Police said Sahu, who had nurtured a grudge against his children and Kuni, had a blueprint ready to eliminate them. He even bought petrol to execute his plan. “Sahu doused petrol over his daughter, niece and grandchildren when they were watching television Thursday evening and set them afire. He also tried to immolate himself,” said a senior police official.
Police said Kuni and her three children died on the spot while a few locals rescued Sahu and Anita in a critical condition. Arun, who was away at his medicine shop during the incident, managed to survive his father’s wrath. “We have seized a suicide note from Sahu’s residence. The note says Sahu decided to kill himself after killing his daughter, niece and grandchildren,”
Arora said.
The fire brigade and the scientific team investigating the cause of the fire are yet to submit their reports, added Arora.
