Soldier kills wife, commits suicide

PATNA: Armyman Vishnu Kumar Sharma, 33, on Sunday killed his wife Damani Sharma and sisterin-law Dimple Sharma, before shooting himself in front of their two children in a running car in Saidabad area on NH-30 under Ranitalab police station in Patna. Sharma was posted in Gujarat.

Deputy superintendent of police, Paliganj, Manoj Kumar Pandey, said the armyman shot his wife and sister-in-law and “thereafter shot himself. During investigation, it came to light that he was suffering from dengue... They were coming to Patna for treatment from Ara.”

Sharma’s two sons, who were sitting with their maternal grandfather in the front seat, were safe. “Police have sent the bodies for post-mortem examination,” he said.

Police have recovered the pistol used in the crime and Sharma’s identity card. They have seized the car. “A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team has also been pressed into service to collect the blood samples from the spot,” he added. Sharma’s seven-year-old son said he and his father, mother and others were in the car when the incident occurred. “Father first shot Dimple Sharma (mausi), then mother Damani Sharma, and then killed himself in the running car. Later maternal grandfather got down from the car and sought help from locals,” he added.

Police said Sharma entered into a heated argument with his wife after which he committed the crime. “He had recently come to his village for treatment from Gujarat by taking leave.”