KAPURTHALA: A resident of Kala Sanghia village in Punjab, who had been working in Jordan for the last one-and-a-half years and had returned home late on Wednesday, set himself, his wife and their two children on fire at his home in the wee hours of Thursday. While NRI Kulwinder Singh, 35, died on the spot, his children succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Kulwinder’s wife Mandeep told the police that they were being blackmailed by four persons of the village with a threat to make her objectionable video and pictures with someone public. After her statement was recorded, she also died on Thursday afternoon .

“Kulwinder’s mother and sister heard screams from his room around 4am. As they woke up, they found smoke emanating from the room. They raised an alarm, following which neighbours broke open the door and took the four out,” said Kapurthala SP (investigation) Jagjit Singh Saroya.

While Kulwinder was already dead, his wife and children were rushed to Kapurthala civil hospital, where the kids died. Mandeep was then rushed to Jalandhar civil hospital, where her statement was recorded by a magistrate. “She told the magistrate that she was being blackmailed by four persons with her pictures and a video, and that they were threatening to put those pictures and video in public domain. She said Kulwinder threw petrol on her, himself and the two kids and set all four on fire,” Saroya said.

The SP said inquiries revealed that when Kulwinder was in Jordan, he received information that his wife had developed a relationship with a village youth, Gurpreet Singh alias Sunny. “Gurpreet had made a video of her with him. He shared the video with his accomplices, who started threatening them by using it as a tool. Apparently, Kulwinder was disturbed about it and there was a tiff between him and his wife in the night. In a fit of rage, Kulwinder took the extreme step,” he said.

On the basis of Mandeep’s statement, the police booked Balkar Singh, Gurpreet, his mother Satya Devi and Tirath Singh of the same village under IPC sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 34 (common intent). All the four accused were at large, Saroya added.

