5 of a family hacked to death in Ayodhya village, 4 held

LUCKNOW: Five members of a family, including a couple and their three children, (all below 10 years) were brutally hacked to death over a property dispute in an Ayodhya village on Saturday midnight, senior police officials said on Sunday morning. They said the couple’s nephew, who stayed with them, was the key suspect as he was found missing from the house after the incident.

Five members of a family, including a couple and their three children, (all below 10 years) were brutally hacked to death over a property dispute in an Ayodhya village on Saturday midnight, senior police officials said on Sunday morning.

They said the couple’s nephew, who stayed with them, was the key suspect as he was found missing from the house after the incident.

The police have arrested the key suspect’s mother, father and wife in this connection. Later, the key suspect was also arrested after an encounter.

Ayodhya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Shailesh Pandey said the incident took place at Baria Nisaru village under Inayatnagar police station limits at around 12.30 am on Sunday. He said it seemed all the victims were attacked with a heavy and blunt object while they were sleeping.

He said the victims included Rakesh Kumar, his wife Jyoti and their three kids, including two sons and a daughter, aged 2, 5 and 8 years. He said the key suspect Pawan, who was Rakesh’s elder sister’s son, had been staying with the family for the past few years and had an eye on his maternal uncle’s property.

Pandey said the local villagers reported that Pawan used to argue with Rakesh’s wife, demanding his alleged share in the property. He said the police suspected that Pawan had helped some people in executing the crime. He said Pawan was arrested after an encounter while a forensic team had collected samples from the crime scene. He said an FIR of murder under Indian Penal Code Section 302 had been registered against Pawan and his three family members. Further investigation was on.