india

Updated: Aug 21, 2019 18:29 IST

Madhya Pradesh police on Wednesday claimed to have a cracked a case of mass murder with the arrest of a 21-year-old man who allegedly killed five relatives including his uncle, aunt and three cousins on August 9 with an axe in Barwani district, 360 km Southeast of Bhopal.

The accused Chachiya Singh and his younger brother Rakesh Singh, residents of Nimadiya village in Barwani district were arrested on Tuesday after 11 days of the crime, police said.

The deceased include Rai Singh, 46, his wife Rama Singh, 38, and their three kids - Dev Singh (12), Sev Singh (10) and Baya (2). Police said Chachiya confessed to have killed them with an axe.

Rai Singh’s eldest son Jamadar was not home when the crime was committed and couldn’t be targeted, police said.

“Chachiya confessed that he killed Rai Singh and four of his family members to take revenge on his uncle who, he alleged, was behind murder of his elder brother Chhagan Singh,” additional superintendent of police, Barwani district, Sunita Rawat said.

During interrogation Chachiya who works as a labourer, told the police that he had thrown four of the bodies in an overflowing canal that empties into the Goi river on the same night with help of his younger brother Rakesh. They threw Baya’s body in an overflowing drain in the early hours of August 10.

Additional director general of police (Indore zone), Varun Kapoor said police recovered bodies of two kids on August 11 from the river, the body of woman from a canal on August 12 and bodies of a man and a kid from the river and drain on August 19.

“Initially, police suspected that they died of drowning in the water bodies that were overflowing due to incessant rainfall. But when police saw grave injuries on their bodies and also didn’t find any missing persons complaint, they started investigation in the matter. During investigation on Tuesday, villagers of Nimadiya village told police that Rai Singh’s family was missing for the past few days. Police called Rai Singh’s elder son Jaamdar Singh, who works as a labourer in Dhar district. Jaamdar identified the bodies as his family members and alleged that Chachiya had threatened his father of dire consequences,” said Kapoor.

When police arrested Chachiya, he confessed to have committed the crime.

Chachiya told police that his elder brother Chhagan Singh had gone with his uncle Rai Singh for some work in July 2018. On return, his uncle told the family that Chhagan had fallen from a hill and died. Chachiya suspected that his uncle had killed his brother.

“On August 9, Chachiya went to Rai Singh’s house around 7 pm and killed his two sons- Dev and Sev with an axe. He waited in the house and later he attacked Rai Singh, Rama and Baya. After killing them, he called his younger brother Rakesh Singh to hide the bodies. Later, they threw the bodies in canals and the drain,” Kapoor said.

Police handed over the bodies to Rai Singh’s elder son on Tuesday.