Bhubaneswar: The father, stepmother, and stepbrother were arrested hours after a 42-year-old man, who was allegedly set on fire, died in AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Saturday, police said.
Jyoti Ranjan Mathia, a resident of Balipatna in Odisha, was admitted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar with 95% burn injuries on Friday. His wife, Bijayalaxmi Behera, who admitted him lodged a complaint, accusing the trio of setting her husband ablaze to deprive him of his rightful share in the family property.
Police, who initially suspected it to be a case of self-immolation, found a video of the man accusing his father, stepmother, and stepbrother of setting him afire after dousing him with petrol over a property dispute. “Prima facie evidence indicates it was not self-immolation but a murder over land disputes. The postmortem report will further strengthen the investigation,” assistant commissioner of police of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate, Abhimanyu Nayak, said.
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The ACP added that the Balipatna police arrested Ranjan’s father, Surendranath Mathia (74), stepmother, Pravati Mathia (57), and stepbrother, Prasant Kumar Mathia (34), under relevant sections of the BNS. “They were forwarded to court and will be taken on remand for further interrogation,” he added.
Surendranath, a retired assistant sub-inspector of police, had remarried after his first wife’s death. He allegedly transferred a newly purchased land to his second wife and their son, ignoring Jyoti Ranjan. Jyoti Ranjan had been demanding his share of the property.
{{/usCountry}}Surendranath, a retired assistant sub-inspector of police, had remarried after his first wife’s death. He allegedly transferred a newly purchased land to his second wife and their son, ignoring Jyoti Ranjan. Jyoti Ranjan had been demanding his share of the property.
{{/usCountry}}Behera, who alleged that despite earlier complaints of assault against her mother-in-law the local police had failed to take action, said, “Jyoti Ranjan’s father, stepmother and stepbrother set him ablaze by pouring petrol over him.”
She had earlier filed a written complaint against her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and brothers-in-law, alleging that she was being physically and mentally tortured.