A 35-year-old BCCL employee committed suicide by jumping in front of a train after allegedly fatally poisoning his wife, two sons and sister-in-law at his house in Barora, about 20km from Dhanbad town.
The body of Om Prakash Chauhan, a BCCL driver, was found severed on railway tracks near Gomoh, about 20km from his house, on Monday morning, while bodies of his wife Suman (30), sons Piyush (12) and Harshit (8), and sister-in-law Nitu Chauhan (23) were recovered from his residence on Sunday night.
The bodies have been sent to Patliputra Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem.
Dhanbad rural SP H.P. Janardhannan, who visited the house on Sunday night, said Barora police station was informed about the deaths of Om Prakash's wife, sons and sister-in-law (Suman's younger sister) by relatives around 11pm on Sunday.
"Suman was found dead in a locked room while the other three were in another, also locked from outside. As their mouths were covered with froth, the doctors at the local primary healthcare centre suspected it to be a case of poisoning but the exact time and cause of the death can be confirmed only after post-mortem. Om Prakash was found dead on tracks by Government Railway Police on Monday morning," said Janardhannan.
He added Om Prakash might have poisoned his wife two or three days ago as foul smell was emanating from the room in which her body was found. "He later killed his sister-in-law and two sons, maybe yesterday (Sunday), as she (Nitu) was seen outside her house in Dhori, Bokaro, last in the morning of Sunday."
"Prima facie it seems to be a case of family dispute and no outsiders were involved. We are exploring all angles. In the statements of relatives and neighbours, there is an indication of an illicit affair between Om Prakash and Nitu."
"We will again talk to relatives and neighbours to find out if they suspect the role of any outsider. We have also sent a team to Om Prakash's ancestral house at Aurangabad in Bihar," said the officer.
Om Prakash's brother-in-law Dinesh Chauhan told the police that he had some mental illness and was on medication. "But this is yet to established," said the rural SP.
Neighbours said Om Prakash rarely interacted with them and that his life was restricted to house and work.
Dinesh said his sister Nitu had left their house in Dhori on Sunday morning to attend a beautician's course at Phusro. "But, as she didn't return home till late in the evening, we went to her training centre only to find out that she never went there. I called Om Prakash and he admitted Nitu had come home but told me she was at the market. He disconnected the phone abruptly, saying it was low on battery," Dinesh said, adding that made him suspicious.
Late at night, Dinesh and his brother Guddan reached Barora and found the main gate closed. They scaling the boundary wall to enter and made the gruesome discovery, Dinesh said.
