E-Paper
House of SC Commission chief’s niece set on fire in Agra
The accused was identified on the basis of CCTV footage and was arrested when he was seen standing amidst the crowd outside the house.
The house of the niece of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chairman Ram Shankar Katheria in Agra’s Sikandra area was set on fire in the wee hours of Thursday by man who had been demanding money from her husband.
The accused, Sanjay Sharma alias Kalu, who was identified on the basis of CCTV footage, was arrested when he came later and was standing amidst the crowd outside the house. He had burn marks on his arm.
In the CCTV footage, Sharma was seen pouring petrol and setting the house in Sector 11 of Awas Vikas Colony on fire around 1.30 am.
Sharma had been demanding money from Kamal Verma, the husband of Uma Katheria, niece of the NCSC chairman, but when denied, resorted to the extreme act, said Amit Pathak, SSP, Agra.
Uma (23), who was brought up by the Commission chief married Kamal in 2015 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended their marriage.
Uma had been residing in the house with Kamal, father-in-law Baijnath Singh Katheria, (65), mother-in-law Pushpa Devi (55) and their eight-month-old son, Parth.
Pushpa Devi and Parth sustained burn injuries in the fire, Kamal said in an FIR, adding that his car and bike parked on the porch were had also caught fire.
The NCSC chief, Ram Shankar Katheria, additional director general (Agra zone) Ajay Anand and district magistrate NG Ravi Kumar reached the spot soon and inspected it.
