In a shocking incident, four members of a family, including a six-month-old girl, were brutally killed on Wednesday in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
According to police, the assailants first slit the throats of the family members and then set their hut afire early in the morning in Cheria village of the Osian area. When neighbours noticed the fire, they called the police. The police personnel initiated an inquiry into the matter.
A relative of the family has been taken into custody and was being questioned, said Inspector General of Police, Jodhpur, Jainarayan Sher.
DGP Umesh Mishra has instructed ADG (Crime) Dinesh MN to go to Osian to monitor the case. Superintendent of Police (Jodhpur Rural) Dharmendra Singh Yadav said preliminary investigation in the case pointed to some family dispute.
Those killed were identified as Poonaram (55), his wife Bhanwari (50), their daughter-in-law Dhapu (23) and her six-month-old daughter Manisha. Yadav said police teams have been formed to investigate the case.
A dog squad and a forensic team were also roped in to gather evidence, he added.
"We are not sure about the cause of the killings but it certainly was not a theft case. We believe that the killers had come with the sole objective of murder," Yadav said.
Poonaram's son had left for work in a stone quarry after dinner on Tuesday night, locals said.
The people of the nearby villages gathered on the spot and they were angry over the incident. Jodhpur District Collector Himanshu Gupta and Rural SP Dharmendra Singh Yadav reached the spot as soon as the incident was reported.
Even I'm not safe: local MLA
When Osiya MLA Divya Maderna came to know about the shocking crime, she spoke to the SP about the matter. The MLA said she would raise the issue in the assembly today. Maderna further said, "Even I am not safe here, 20-20 people attack my car, the attackers are not being arrested. I get attacked in police protection."
As per the primary probe, Pooraram's nephew is the prime suspect in the case. He has been rounded up, police said.
Revenge: Motive of crime?
According to reports, Tejaram, the nephew of the deceased Punaram, had committed suicide in Surat. Punaram's brother Bhairaram suspected that he (Punaram) had got him murdered. Often, there used to be a dispute between the two brothers on the issue. One day, in a fit of rage, Punaram said that 'yes', I had got the murder done. After this, the differences between the two families increased further. Here, Bhairaram's youngest son Pappuram had a plan to avenge the murder of his elder brother and he wanted to avenge the murder of his brother by killing Punaram's son Revatram. He probably killed his family when he did not found Revatram there.
In Jaipur, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi informed the House during Zero Hour that the state government will give a statement on the incident at 5 pm.
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party leader and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal said Jodhpur is the hometown of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, yet crimes are happening in the district.
He alleged that the Marwar region has become a hub of drugs, demanding stern action to control the situation.
Beniwal said people involved in such heinous crimes should be eliminated in "encounters".
"The incident of Jodhpur is heart-wrenching. If the accused involved in the case are not arrested within 24 hours, our party will launch an agitation," he said.
(Report by Chandrashekhar Vyas)
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