Kolkata: Man booby-traps house in revenge plot, kills 3

KOLKATA: A 52-year-old man, who suspected his 26-year-old third wife had fled with a neighbour, allegedly plotted the mass murder of the paramour’s relatives and rigged their building with a live wire. One of the relatives and two other neighbours in the building at Akra in South 24 Parganas were electrocuted.
The accused — Sheikh Rabban alias Rabiul — around 3am on Thursday set a small fire outside the building and raised a false alarm.As soon as the panicked residents of the building tried to run out, some of them touched the wire, leading to the death of the trio. Seven, including a five-year-old and a 65-year-old woman, were severely injured.
The incident occurred about 15km from the Taratala crossing. Two neighbours later saw Rabiul running away when cops started looking for him. However, before the cops could catch him, locals tracked him to a hideout near Tollygunge station, dragged him back to Akra in a local train and thrashed him. Cops barely managed to rescue him alive and send him to Vidyasagar Hospital in Behala where his neighbours were admitted. Condition of the eight, including Rabiul, was critical.
The three killed in the incident were identified as Zakir Hussain Mollah (31) — a relative of the alleged paramour — Sheikh Ahmed (45) and Sheikh Sultan (44). “Preliminary investigation shows that Rabiul had plotted the murder to avenge an extra marital affair between his wife and a neighbour. Locals caught him while he was fleeing,” said S Selvamurugan, superintendent of police, Diamond Harbour.
Police said Rabiul suspected his third wife, with whom he had been married for the past four years, had eloped with a youth from the neighbourhood last Tuesday. To ‘avenge’ the same, he had allegedly plotted the mass murder.
The single-storey house at Noapara in Akra has six rooms, each occupied by a different family. In total, 17 people lived in the building. Rabiul was peeved as Mollah allegedly encouraged his brother-in-law to have an affair with Rabiul’s wife.
On Wednesday, after all residents of the building went to sleep, Rabiul pulled out a live wire from an adjacent building and fenced a corridor of the house with it. He even soaked the wire in water before connecting it to a power unit. He then lit up a fire outside the house and raised a false alarm. “When the panicked and groggy residents rushed out of the house, they came in contact with the wet live wire and were instantly electrocuted. Neighbours, Noor Jahan Doha (65) and an 18-year-old girl, saw Rabiul fleeing which raised suspicion,” said Salima Bibi, the owner of the house. She added that Rabiul often used to beat his wife and after she left, he told them that he would vacate the room by July 20.
The trap could be removed after a portion of the wire burnt out and the electricity was cut off.