Arrested Indian Air Force sergeant Amitabh Srivastava (second from right) at Town police station in Motihari on Saturday. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

Motihari, June 25: Indian Air Force (IAF) sergeant Amitabh Srivastava, who was charged with burning his wife at his Chandmari residence over a week ago, was brought to Motihari from Rajasthan by a three-member police team headed by investigating officer (IO) K.D. Yadav.

The team had left for Naal (Rajasthan) to secure the sergeant’s arrest on June 20.

Srivastava, who is a chronic patient of rheumatoid arthritis for the past several years and has been undergoing treatment at the Army Hospital Research & Referral, Delhi Cantt, denied the allegations of burning his wife, Kiran, and claimed the victim was “lunatic and had attempted suicide by sprinkling kerosene over herself”.

The sergeant, lodged at the Town police station, told The Telegraph: “After repeated assaults by my in-laws and some of their relatives during Kiran’s treatment at Rahmania Medical Centre on June 12, I met the superintendent of police (SP) the next day and informed him regarding my leave which was to end on June 19.”

“The SP (Ganesh Kumar) asked me to come back immediately after reporting at Naal and applying for a leave extension. I informed my air officer commanding (AOC) about the FIR lodged against me. The court’s arrest warrant was sent there via fax. When the police team reached there on June 23, I was handed over to them,” Amitabh added.

The SP could not be contacted on phone for clari- fication.

Speaking about 15 years of his conjugal life, he said most of the times he had been on the receiving end because of the “extremely lunatic behaviour” of his wife. “There was frequent interference of my in-laws in my married life. My wife (Kiran) was very much influenced with the trend of ‘matriarchal family’ which she had seen at her parent’s place. Her parents’ relationship was harmonious,” he said.

On his daughters’ claim, the sergeant said: “Both my daughters have been brainwashed by others and I am worst pained with their behaviour.”

Srivastava, who was to retire in October this year, said: “I am willing to undergo whatever punishment the system deems fit, but before that I would like to know which one of the so-called ‘good samaritans or the real vested interests’ are prepared to discharge my responsibilities towards my daughters who are in their adolescence and are left alone following the death of their mother.”

When asked about his alleged extramarital relations with an athlete, Srivastava, who is an MA in (Hindi) and is also holding additional degrees of LLB & MBA in human resource, rejected the allegation claiming he was too unwell to get involved in any such thing.

He also showed his medical prescription, which says he gets tired easily and suffers from joint deformities. The doctor’s remark on the prescription suggested, “he is unable to perform physically demanding task and would require regular follow up”.

Srivastava said the doctor had asked him to visit for check-up on June 27. “I was already 50 per cent dead and now the bad name has killed me completely,” he said.