Ranchi, April 5: Special CBI judge Numan Ali today held domestic help Ajay Kumar Pal guilty of first killing and then burning five members of a forest officer’s family at Bariatu on June 2, 2003. The punishment will be pronounced on April 9.
According to prosecution lawyer Shiv Kumar Kaka, 25-year-old Pal had set the bungalow of forest conservator Dhirendra Kumar on fire charring his wife Amita Sinha (41), son Harshit (17), nephew Anmol (10), niece Golu (8) and servant Kittu (12) when Kumar was out of station.
In April 2004, CBI took charge of the case after the then forest officer, Dhirendra Kumar, now the special secretary of the industry department, was not satisfied with the investigation of the police. However, both the reports accused Pal of committing the crime.
Prosecution lawyer Shiv Kumar Kaka said it was the rarest of rare murder as in a fit of rage, the servant wiped out the family after the landlady abused him for a badly cooked dinner.
“The servant has confessed the crime the next day. He was working for the family for the past 10 years. When interrogated, Pal said he was forced to take the extreme step as his employer’s wife had not only scolded him for cooking bad dinner, but had also threatened to throw him out of the job,” Kaka added.
Officer-in-charge of Namkum police station Ravi Kant Prasad said the conviction was expected. “Pal, a resident of Vamini village in Bengal’s Purulia district, executed the crime at 2 am on June 2 when everyone was fast asleep. He had all the keys. He opened the lock and entered the room where the landlady was sleeping with her nephew and niece. Pal collected the family’s clothes and newspapers in the room and lighted a fire,” he said.
“When the fire spread, he went to the adjoining room, where the landlady’s son was sleeping. He hit Harshit and then dragged him to the landlady’s room. Another servant Kittu was beaten with a mosquito net rod. Finally, Pal moved him into the room, where the others were burning,” he said. After the crime, Pal tried to commit suicide but failed.
Defence lawyer Rohit Ranjan said Pal was innocent.
“Prosecution could not give strong motive. Moreover, it also failed to provide any evidence of whether my client has committed the crime. Informant of the case, Sanjeev Kumar, the forest officer’s relative, was not questioned. I will raise objection when the punishment will be awarded,” he said.
