Prime suspect in Amethi family’s murder nabbed near Jewar toll plaza

Man nabbed in a late-night operation while trying to flee to Delhi; enmity due to his proximity with the teacher’s wife before her marriage led to the crime, claim police

LUCKNOW The Amethi police and the UP Special Task Force (STF), in a joint operation on Friday, arrested the man suspected of shooting dead a Dalit family of four in Amethi district, a day after the incident that stunned the state and led to a pitched political battle. Chandan Verma, 33, was nabbed in a late-night operation near Jewar toll plaza when he was trying to flee to Delhi. The man said he was stressed and could not control himself, and shot everyone who came in front of him, said SP (Amethi) AK Singh.

IG (Ayodhya range) Praveen Kumar said: “The suspect was arrested by the UP STF team and a pistol used in the crime was recovered from his possession.” (Pic for representation)

A primary school teacher Sunil Kumar, 35, his wife Poonam Bharti, 33, and their two daughters Drishti, 5, and Micky (18 months old) were shot dead by unidentified assailants who barged into their house in a crowded residential locality of Amethi late on Thursday evening. Sunil Kumar was posted at Panhona primary school of Singhpur block.

SP (Amethi) AK Singh confirmed the arrest of Verma who was on the run after the crime. He said the gruesome murders were a fallout of the enmity between Verma and the family as he had been stalking Poonam Bharti for many years. Verma’s involvement was established in the crime as he had left his motorcycle at some distance from the victims’ house. The police had also found a witness who spotted Verma heading to the victims’ house around 6.35pm on Thursday.

Another police official said the man confessed to the crime citing multiple reasons including his “previous proximity with the deceased woman before her marriage”. The suspect claimed that he was pressuring her to continue the proximity even after her marriage and often used to trouble her by making phone calls and stalking her, whenever she was in Rae Bareli at her in-laws’ house or maternal house, he added.

Singh said Poonam Bharti had lodged an FIR against Chandan Verma on August 18 under appropriate sections of BNS for alleged stalking and molestation, as well as beating up her husband in Rae Bareli. Charges under sections of SC/ST Act for atrocities against Dalits were also slapped on the accused in the FIR lodged in Rae Bareli, following which he was taken into custody.

The complainant had also expressed apprehension about being murdered by the suspect and stated that he would be responsible in the event of any harm to her and her husband.