Jajpur, April 7: Police today detained a man on suspicion of burning his wife and two children, including an infant, to death at Debidwara village late last night.

The deceased have been identified as Jayanti Sahoo, 28, her six-year-old son Asish and seven-month-old daughter Saishradha, police said. The victims with severe burn injuries had been taken to the nearest government hospital where doctors declared them received dead. Jayanti's father Suryamani Sahoo today lodged an FIR, accusing his son-in-law of killing his daughter and grandchildren. The police have detained Jayanti's husband Ananta Sahoo.

The police said Jayanti was sleeping, along with her two children, in her room, after having dinner last night, while her ailing in-laws were sleeping in a separate room of the house. Around 11pm, some neighbours spotted smoke emitting from the Sahoos' house and informed the local fire office. Fire tenders reached the spot and brought the fire under control. The fire brigade personnel, accompanied with local people, found Jayanti and her children with severe burn injuries and lying in a room while her husband was not at home. They immediately informed the local police about the incident.

"On being informed, we reached the spot immediately and found three persons, including an infant, with severe burn injuries. Ambulance was called in and they were shifted to the nearby hospital. But, the doctors at the hospital declared them received dead," said inspector in charge of Jajpur town police station Kamal Lochan Bhunian.

Suspicion ran high on Ananta's conduct, as he was not present in the house when the incident occurred. Besides, his parents are too old and paralytic to have committed such a crime.

"The deceased's husband had a strained relationship with his wife, and they were not getting along well. He used to threaten his wife that he would marry another girl. As Ananta was not present in the house during the incident, our suspicion pointed upon him," said Bhunian.