4 of family, including a baby, killed by relative in Jodhpur

JODHPUR: Four members of a family, including a six-month-old girl, were killed and their bodies were set ablaze in a village near Osian town in Jodhpur district early on Wednesday morning. A 19-year-old relative of the family was arrested for the gruesome murders, said police.
Those killed were identified as Poonaram Jat, 55, his wife Bhanwari, 50, their daughter-in-law Dhapu, 22, and her six-month-old daughter Manisha.Their half-charred bodies were found in their house on their farm at Chirai village. The baby girl was thrown into the fire alive, said police after a preliminary investigation. Poonaram's nephew Pappuram Jat, 19, has been arrested for carrying out the gruesome murders, said SP (Jodhpur Rural) Dharemndra Singh Yadav.

Considering the sensitivity of the case, DGP Umesh Mishra sent ADG (Crime) Dinesh MN from Jaipur to Osian to monitor the investigation. SP (Jodhpur Rural) Dharmendra Singh Yadav said preliminary investigation pointed at some family dispute behind the killings.
Police reached the spot after villagers alerted them on noticing smoke emerging from the house.
According to police, the accused, Pappuram, the son of Poonaram’s elder brother, first killed the three adults by slitting their throats and then set their bodies afire in the straw-roofed kitchen nearby.
Pappuram entered the house on the farm around 4am on Wednesday and killed all the four when they were asleep, said Yadav. “The accused killed the three adults one by one in their sleep by attacking them on their throats with an axe and then dragged their bodies to the kitchen, where he set them ablaze. He did not kill the girl with the axe but threw her alive into the fire and fled,” added Yadav.
Ongoing investigations have revealed that there was a land dispute between Poonaram and his brother (Pappuram’s father), said an officer. Besides, a brother of Poonaram’s had died under suspicion conditions in Surat some time back, and Pappuram suspected Poonaram’s hand in his death, he added.
While one of Poonaram’s two sons lives with his family in Chamu, the other one was out for his night shift at a stone cutter when the murders took place. Having knowledge of the other son’s absence from home, the accused was assured that he would not face any resistance and could comfortably execute the murders, said police.
“During our interrogation of the family members and sons of Poonaram, the needle of suspicion was pointed to Pappuram,” said Yadav.
IGP (Jodhpur Range) Jai Narayan Sher said all the possible angles are being looked at in the investigation. “We are investigating if anybody else was also involved in the crime and what chemical was used in setting the bodies afire, etc.,” he said.
The killings unleashed a blame game between the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP, which pointed at the growing crime in the region. Congress MLA from Osian, Divay Maderna, demanded the removal of IGP Jai Narayan Sher, alleging that he has been just sitting in his chamber, transferring the SHOs and not meeting complainants.
Maderna said even she felt unsafe as she was attacked. She referred to an incident in which she had been attacked during a cooperative society’s election some time back in Osian. “None of my assailants have been arrested so far. Even I am not safe here,” she said.