UP farmer kills 3, takes his 3 children hostage inside home. Then a gunshot

Police said Arvind then allegedly swung the gun towards the three policemen and fired. The officers fired back in self-defence, injuring him. In the chaos, the six-month-old slipped from Arvind’s arms and fell to the floor, police said.

Arvind and his son were rushed to hospital. Both were declared dead on arrival. The daughters were rescued, unhurt except for a small scratch near the eldest girl’s elbow.

SSP Kumar later recounted those tense moments: “The three of us had made up our minds to storm the room if Arvind took any step to harm the children… We tried our best to convince him to release the children and surrender, but he wasn’t willing to listen.”

The events that led to the standoff had begun hours earlier, around 5.45 pm on Tuesday, during a religious ceremony at the single-storey house that ended in three deaths. 

Puja goes awry

According to police, Arvind’s family had organised a five-day puja for his wellbeing, believing he was “possessed by an evil spirit”. Three priests had been called to conduct the ceremony, with each being paid Rs 1,000.

Tuesday was the fourth day.

Police and relatives said Arvind, however, allegedly became agitated during the puja and began hurling abuses at the priests, Mahendra Pathak, 42, and Akhilesh Mishra, 55. He called them frauds and questioned their identities.

His wife, Babita, 35, intervened, asking him to speak calmly since the prayers were being held at their own house. 

Police claimed Arvind assaulted Babita. He then went inside, took out his licensed revolver and opened fire at his wife and the priests. 

Babita, Pathak and Mishra were injured and taken to a hospital, where doctors declared them dead. The third priest fled.

The killings left Shambhupur, a village of around 6,000 people about 35 km from the district headquarters, stunned.

Speaking to the media, 70-year-old Shyamla Devi, Arvind’s mother, said: “I was bearing the pain of losing one son. Now my second son is also gone.”

She said her son had a disturbed past and had been “troubled and tense” for the past few months.

Village pradhan Santosh Nishad said Arvind’s family was not on good terms with local residents. “No one from outside the family had been present at the house during the Mritunjay Jap ritual, apart from the priests. Except for me, no villager even went to the postmortem house to claim the bodies,” he said.

Arvind had worked as a labourer outside the district to earn a living. Nishad claimed his behaviour changed after his brother, Sunil Singh alias Pappu, was murdered in 2017. Some of Arvind’s relatives were arrested in that case.

Nishad also claimed Arvind was receiving treatment in Varanasi. Police said an assault case was also registered against Arvind in 2020.

A seven-hour standoff

After the three killings, Arvind had locked himself in the bedroom with his children. 

Police quickly cordoned off the house and tried one approach after another to get him to open the door. 

His mother, two sisters, a niece and an uncle were brought to the house to talk him into coming out. From near the gate, they repeatedly called out to him. Police kept them away from the bedroom, fearing Arvind could open fire. 

Senior officers, including Additional Director General, Varanasi Zone, Naveen Arora, also tried to persuade him to surrender. Police offered to send biscuits and milk into the room for the children. They assured Arvind that he would not be harmed.

He still refused.

Instead, police claimed, he continued speaking to relatives about his grievances and repeatedly threatened to shoot the police and the children if anyone entered.

Police later said they’d feared that any further delay could have put Arvind’s other children at risk. “The accused had fired five rounds at the police team — it was close-range contact. We had to keep both the children and ourselves safe,” a police officer said.

As for the weapon, it was originally licensed in Sunil’s name and was transferred to Arvind after his death, police said.

(With PTI inputs)