Man kills brother, niece and sister-in-law in Begusarai

BEGUSARAI/PATNA: A man, his wife and daughter were shot dead by his younger brother in Begusarai district on Diwali night on Sunday. The accused, Vikas Kumar (35), also tried to kill their two minor sons, but ran out of bullets.
The shocking incident took place around 10pm at Machhan under Singhaul police station area. Vikas barged into the house of his elder brother Kunal Singh (38) and sprayed bullets when the family members were performing Diwali puja.Kunal, his wife Kundan Devi (32) and their daughter Sonam Kumari (17) died on the spot. Property dispute is said to be the reason behind the triple murder.
Vikas had earlier killed his uncle Arjun Singh in 2015 and his aunt one year later. Vikas had been to jail in the murder case, but came out on a fake bail order in 2017. He has been absconding since then. Begusarai SP Awakash Kumar said police would find out from the court whether Kunal was a witness in the killing of Arjun and his wife. “A police team has been assigned the task to verify it from the local court, which is at present closed till Chhath Puja,” he said.
Begusarai DSP (headquarters) Kundan Singh on Monday said Vikas apprehended that Kunal would get the entire property of his uncle Arjun, who had no child. “Vikas also killed Arjun’s wife, who was a witness in her husband’s murder case. Vikas got released from jail on the basis of a fake court order about two years ago. Since then he has been evading arrest. The CBI is probing the fake court order case,” the DSP told this newspaper over phone.
Vikas first shot Kunal and his wife. When Sonam, who was assisting her parents in the puja, tried to raise an alarm, the assailant killed her with the same revolver. After that he went to Kunal’s two minor sons who were bursting firecrackers outside the house. Vikas tried to fire but there was no cartridge left in his revolver.
“He (Vikas) pointed the revolver at me and pressed the trigger. However, it couldn’t fire as no more live cartridges were left inside. I suffered burn injuries in my chin as the revolver was hot,” one of Kunal’s sons told the police. Vikas fled the spot after committing the crime. The two survivors have been provided police security due to threat to their lives.
The locals couldn’t realize what was happening in the neighbourhood due to the bursting of firecrackers.
An investigating officer said Vikas targeted Kunal and his family members to grab the property, which the latter had got after the murder of their uncle Arjun and his wife. Kunal worked as a private security guard.