A 40-year-old man, allegedly mentally deranged, has been arrested by the Delhi Police on Sunday for setting blaze to his residence, leaving his elderly parents dead and a tenant injured in West Delhi's Moti Bagh area on Friday.
A senior police officer said, "40-year-old Santosh started the fire that killed his parents, Chedi lal (70) and laxmi (62), in the early hours of Friday after which he fled from the spot. In the fire that engulfed their residential building, their tenant, Vinay sustained burn injuries.
The fire broke out in the wee hours of Friday at the ground floor residence of the elderly couple at Sudarshan Park area. Two to three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The elderly couple was taken to the nearby hospital where they were declared dead on arrival.
Senior police investigators on Sunday said, "As per the allegations of the family members of the couple as well as our investigation, we found that Santosh is mentally unstable.
He used to often get into verbal spats with his parents daily."
The officer said, "Santosh also used to beat his parents and forcibly snatch money from them. He used this money on drugs and
alcohol."
Police said Santosh had locked the main door, which led to a delay in rescuing his parents.
"The door of the tenants' room was closed and the other door was most likely shut by Santosh after lighting the fire. Though Mr. lal could later manage to open the door, but he had to help his wife as she had problems in walking. Ultimately the fire spread and engulfed them", said the officer.