Former Congress MP from Warangal Sircilla Rajaiah, his wife and son were questioned for hours after his daughter-in-law and three grandchildren were burnt alive in a mysterious fire at Rajaiah’s residence in the wee hours of Wednesday around 4am. late on Wednesday night, police said the Congress leader, his wife and son have been booked for abetment to suicide. However no arrests have been made so far.
Rajaiah’s daughter-in-law Sarika and her three sons, seven-year-old Abhinav and three-year-old twins Ayaan and Shriyaan, were killed when the fire broke out in the first floor of Rajaiah’s house in Revenue Colony, Warangal.
Though other family members, including Rajaiah and his son Anil, too were at home they were unharmed.
Rajaiah, who was nominated as the Congress candidate for the Warangal lok Sabha byelection only a few days ago, was seen sobbing uncontrollably when top police officials, including Warangal Police Commissioner Sudheer Babu, visited the scene.
Meanwhile, Rajaiah informed the Congress leadership about his inability to contest the lok Sabha byelection from Warangal. As Wednesday was the last day for filing nominations, the party rushed another former MP and ex-Minister Sarve Satyanarayana from Hyderabad to Warangal to file the nomination.
Sarika’s mother and sister alleged that her in-laws had “tortured her and killed her”. “My sister cannot commit suicide...She was tortured and killed,” Sarika’s sister alleged.
On their complaint police registered a case of mysterious death and Rajaiah and his family is being questioned.
Warangal Police Commissioner Sudheer Babu said the fire was caused by a gas leak. “The forensic team is collecting the evidence. Forensic experts are trying to ascertain the cause of fire. We are investigating from all angles,” he said.
Inspector-General of Police Warangal Range Naveen Chand told reporters that a gas cylinder was recovered from the scene of the fire. “We found a gas cylinder in Sarika’s bedroom. Whoever is responsible for the incident will face stringent action,” he said after visiting the scene.
Police have not ruled out the possibility of Sarika committing suicide by releasing gas from the lPG cylinder at home and lighting the fire because of the domestic violence and torture.
Incidentally, a criminal case was filed against Rajaiah, his wife Madhavi, son Anil Kumar and another woman, at the Begumpet women’s police station in Hyderabad in April 2014, following a complaint lodged by Sarika, who alleged that her husband and in-laws had been harassing her for dowry.
Sarika had also staged a sit-in protest outside Rajaiah’s house over the same matter at the time.