Man who set wife, daughters, niece ablaze held in Nashik

Three days after he set his wife, three daughters and niece ablaze, Tulsiram Pandav, was arrested in Nandgaon near Manmad in Nashik district on Friday, reports Kiran Sonawane.

Three days after he set his wife, three daughters and niece ablaze, Tulsiram Pandav, was arrested in Nandgaon near Manmad in Nashik district on Friday.

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Four teams of Titwala police officers were looking for Pandav since April 27, the day the incident took place.

Pandav, an unemployed alcoholic, torched his wife Asha (45), daughters, Soni (17), Rani (16) and Kiran (14), and niece Kavita Ahire (13) when they were asleep in the family’s Mharal village home in Kalyan. Asha, Soni and Kavita died of burns in Sion hospital. Rani and Kiran are critical.

Pandav was very suspicious of Asha and his daughters. Asha and Soni worked as domestic help to make ends meet.

The accused had fled his village after the incident. “We made four teams and sent them to Goregoan, Kalyan, and Nandgoan. One team was following up with the accused’s relatives because we were sure he would approach them for shelter or go to his native place in Nandgaon,” Police Inspector, Ashok Worlikar, Kalyan taluka police station (rural), said

The police’s hunch proved to be true. On Friday, they received a call from Nandgoan about Pandav’s presence there.

“We contacted the local police, who took him in custody,” Worlikar said. He added that when the villagers got to know of Pandav’s deed, they wanted to thrash him, but the police saved him from the mob.

Pandav was produced in Kalyan court on Saturday and remanded in police custody until May 4.