Toll in Tapi fire touches three with two more deaths

SURAT: Two more persons succumbed to their burn injuries at New Civil Hospital (NCH) in the city yesterday, taking the toll in the act of revenge that played out in a district in south Gujarat to three. A five-year-old child (Prince) had died on Saturday during treatment after a family of four in their house was set on fire at Venkur village of Tapi district by an enraged lover.
Sumitra Chaudhary (34) and accused Ravindra Parmar (37) were declared dead by the NCH authorities 24 hours after the death of the former's son at the NCH. Sumitra's husband Amrut (40) and daughter Hemanshi (7) are still under treatment.
The accused was allegedly having an affair with Sumitra and they were also involved in the fraud of offering jobs to tribals, police said. The woman had become witness in a case filed against the accused. So, Parmar set the house on fire to take revenge on her 20 days after being released on bail.
He had allegedly set the house on fire after sprinkling some inflammable material on it at around 2.30am on Saturday. tnn
Parmar was a resident of Muli in Surendranagar district. He took the ghastly step as Sumitra had turned witness against him in a case of financial fraud committed by them three years ago, police said. Parmar and Sumitra were also having an affair that began four years ago.
Parmar had visited Sumitra's village on many occasions and offered government jobs to villagers. Sumitra collected Rs 550 from many aspirants on his behalf. Locals lodged a police complaint against him three years ago. They nabbed him and handed over to police when he came to meet Sumitra in 2014. He was in judicial custody since then. Sumitra was also arrested but she turned witness.