Ranchi, June 3: Frayed nerves over a badly-cooked dinner triggered a vendetta chain that cost a family of five their lives.

Forest conservator Dhirendra Kumar’s wife, son, nephew, niece and a minor servant were charred to death in their bungalow in the Bariatu area yesterday.

Another servant, Ajay Kumar, who had survived by jumping into a “covered” well at the back of the house, today confessed to burning his “memsaheb and the kids” alive in a fit of rage.

Ajay, a backward caste youth, said he was “compelled” to take the “extreme step” because his employer’s wife had not only scolded him for not cooking the dinner properly, but also threatened to throw him out of the job.

Police sources said the crime bore resemblance to the shootout in Mumbai airport a few days ago, in which a CISF constable, Rajnarayan Namdev, shot dead his deputy commandant, A.R. Karnidikar and held six of his colleagues for being denied leave.

Ajay, now in police custody now, said frequent rebukes by the forest conservator’s wife compelled him to commit the crime. Addressing the media in the office of senior police superintendent M.V.Rao, Ajay said. “I had been working as a servant at forest conservator Dhirendra Prasad’s residence for the past 10 years on a consolidated salary of Rs 1,500 per month. My landlady (Amita Sinha) used to scold me and often for no reason. On Sunday night, too, she chided me for not cooking the food properly and told me to quit the next morning. Enraged by her behaviour, I decided to commit suicide after killing all of them,” he added.

Ajay, a resident of Vamini village in Jhalda in West Bengal’s Puruliya district, said he started executing his “action plan” at 2 am when everyone was fast asleep. “I had all the keys. I opened the lock and entered the room where my landlady was sleeping with her nephew Golu (8) and niece Anmol (10). I collected all the clothes and newspapers in the room and lighted a bonfire with a matchstick.”

“When the fire spread, I went to the adjoining room where Harhsit (17) was sleeping. I smashed his head with my elbow and fist till he fell unconscious and dragged him to my landlady’s room,” he added.

When asked how did 12-year-old Kittu, another servant, die, Ajay said, “Kittu was sleeping in my room. I beat him with a mosquito net rod till he fell unconscious. Though he offered stiff resistance, he could not succeed. Finally, I dragged him also to the place where the others were burning. “I did not want to kill Kittu. But, he was an eyewitness and could not be spared. I did it all in a fit of rage,” he added

Kumar said after committing the crime, he jumped into the well. “I could not stab myself to death with a knife,” he said, pointing to five stab wounds on the left side of his chest.

Ajay was without remorse. “Now that it has happened, it is no use repenting. I have killed intentionally, why should I repent?” Kumar, however, did not give any clue about the involvement of outsiders despite repeated queries. “I am not under any pressure. No one else was involved,” he asserted. The police also corroborated Kumar’s version.