Celebrations turn into gloom

Bloodbath as family prepares for wedding ceremony two days away

Gloom descended upon the Alipur house of the Chauhan family which lost four members in a gory incident of jealousy on Wednesday, just two days before a wedding.

The shooting spree by 30-year-old Sohan Pal Chauhan, killing his wife Poonam, father-in-law Bhopal Singh and brother-in-law Tarun, has left the entire Bakhtiyarpur village shocked. It is a twin tragedy for the family as Tarun was scheduled to get married on Friday. 

“Several relatives had already gathered at the house for preparations and functions before the wedding on Friday,” Tarun’s cousin Jeetender told Deccan Herald.

As the news about the bloodbath spread to other relatives, dozens of them converged at the house by late afternoon. Neighbours also joined the condolence session that continued uninterrupted.

“We do not know why Sohan carried out such an attack just days before the wedding. We all are shocked and the house which was echoing with wedding preparations has turned into a gory crime scene,” Jeetender added.

It is alleged that Sohan came outside the house around 1.30 pm with two pistols and shot his father-in-law Bhopal. Following this, he proceeded towards the house to look for his mother-in-law Rajo Devi, 50, and Poonam’s elder brother Tejender, 32, whom he could not find in time.

The drawing room was filled with women who had come for the wedding and tried to confront Sohan.

“They were shocked when he placed two pistols on each side of his head and shot two rounds,” Jeetender said. 

Meanwhile, some locals informed Tejender that Poonam and Tarun were lying in a pool of blood around half-a-kilometer away from the house.

However, no medical help was offered to them before Tejender rushed to the spot with family members.

“We made them sit in our Swift and  took them a local doctor who told us to go to a hospital. We took them to Max Hospital in Hyderpur, where Poonam was declared brought dead while Tarun succumbed to injuries after 10 minutes,” Tejender told police in his statement.

Sohan and Bhopal were taken to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in a police control room van. They were also declared brought dead with gunshot wounds in the head.

Police have questioned Poonam’s relatives along with eyewitnesses to ascertain the sequence of events. Sohan’s family members will also be summoned on account of the complaint filed by Poonam’s family who alleged that Sohan did not carry out the crime alone.

Tejender claimed that several weapons were recovered from Sohan’s car which suggests that he may have been accompanied by family members or friends, who fled from the spot after Sohan opened fire at Poonam and Tarun.

“They had come to kill all of us. But after killing my sister and brother, they fled from the spot. Only Sohan returned to finish rest of us,” Tejender added in his statement.

Police have preserved the bodies for post-mortem, which will be conducted on Thursday. Separate teams of local police and Crime Branch have collected evidence from the spot.