SITAPUR: A Sitapur businessman allegedly murdered his family comprising of five members including his mother, wife, and three minor children, before shooting himself.
According to the district police, the accused, Anurag Singh (45), was addicted to alcohol.
The other deceased were identified as Anurag Singh’s mother Savitri Devi (60), his wife Priyanka (40), and his three children including daughters Ashwini (12), Ashvi (10), and son Advait (6).
The incident was reported from Palapur village under Rampur police station area in Sitapur on early Saturday morning. Police received information that a man was trying to kill his family members at his residence.
Sitapur Superintendent of Police Chakresh Mishra said a police team was rushed immediately to the spot. They found the bodies of two minor children outside and the others inside the house.
Police sources claimed that while two victims appeared to have sustained bullet injuries, the others seemed to have sustained injuries from a blunt object.
The gunshot injuries were found only on the bodies of Anurag and his wife.
The mother's head was smashed with a hammer and the children were also hit with the hammer, and then thrown from the second floor balcony of the house to the ground floor, according to eye witnesses.
Sitapur SP Chakresh Mishra said that Anurag, who was allegedly addicted to drugs and alcohol, had a dispute with his family members who planned to admit him into a de-addiction centre.
A preliminary inquiry revealed that Singh owned 100 bigha land in his village, where he used to stay and do farming. Singh's family had been living in a residential complex in Lucknow as his wife Priyanka was working at an insurance company. Two of the kids were studying at a well-known public school in Lucknow.
On Friday, Priyanka took the kids to her husband in the village.
Local sources claimed that at the time of incident, Anurag’s brother Ajit was also present in the house. Hearing the sound of firing, he came out of his room and found Anurag killing the family members one by one. Seeing Ajit, Anurag rushed towards him, but Ajit managed to lock himself in his room and escape.
According to local sources, Anurag's wife and mother wanted to send him to a de-addiction centre as he was an alcoholic. Owing to his alcoholism, Anurag was unable to focus on farming and this led to an altercation in the family early on Saturday morning leading to the tragedy.
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