Man kills three of family, turns gun on himself in Delhi

The victims’ family claimed tension between Sonu Chauhan and his wife Poonam’s (28) family over his "frequent and unreasonable" dowry demands could be the reason behind the bloody episode.

The car in which Sonu shot dead his wife Poonam and her brother Tarun at Alipur in Outer Delhi on Wednesday. – PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

A 31-year-old man went on a killing spree at Alipur in Outer Delhi on Wednesday, shooting down his wife, brother-in-law and father-in-law before turning the gun on himself.

The victims’ family claimed tension between Sonu Chauhan and his wife Poonam’s (28) family over his “frequent and unreasonable” dowry demands could be the reason behind the bloody episode.

Armed with a semi-automatic pistol and a country-made firearm, Sonu committed the murders at two spots separated by a few hundred metres. The first shooting incident took place at a secluded spot, while the second happened at his in-laws’ residence at Bakhtawarpur, which was gearing up for the wedding ceremony of his brother-in-law Tarun (26).

It all began around 1 p.m. After arriving at Alipur from his home in Barola village in Noida, Sonu called up Poonam asking her to reach a secluded spot, around half-a-kilometre from her father's house where she had been staying for the past couple of days. “He told her that he wanted to hand over some presents to Tarun. Both Poonam and Tarun left home in a car and reached the meeting point,” said Poonam's brother Tejendra. Sonu was already waiting for them in his Santro car.

According to the police, Sonu first shot his wife and then his brother-in-law at the spot.

Leaving the injured duo in their car, Sonu got into his car and proceeded towards his in-laws' house where he shot his 55-year-old father-in-law Bhopal Singh, who was busy supervising the cooks preparing food for the guests at home.

Following this, Sonu went inside the house and called out for his mother-in-law Rajjo. As Rajjo was preoccupied with the preparations, she took a couple of minutes to come to the drawing room.

Meanwhile, many relatives who had come for the wedding were present in the room and tried to overpower Sonu who was brandishing weapons in both his hands. “He panicked, trained the weapons on his temples and shot himself,” said a relative.

Poonam and Tarun were later taken to a hospital, where Poonam was declared dead on arrival while Tarun passed away 10 minutes later.