Mother-son battle for life while niece dies; accused wanted to end secret marriage
Bhayandar : Residents of Hub Town, a posh residential complex in Mira Road, woke up to a rude shock on Thursday as smoke billowed from a 5th floor apartment in Ivy Tower, but the reason behind the fire left them further terrified — Bahadur Singh (35) had allegedly set the bedroom of his apartment ablaze, knowing that his wife Tanya Singh (25), her niece Shakeela Babu Shaikh (20) and 13-month-old son Jaidev were sleeping inside.
Tanya is reportedly Bahadur’s second wife and had married her secretly.
The residents alerted the fire brigade and police personnel who rushed to the spot rushed the three to Centenary Hospital in Kandivali. While Shakeela succumbed to her injuries, Tanya and Jaidev are battling for life with 60% burns.
Despite being a married man and father of three children, Bahadur who frequented ladies beer bars, had fallen in love with Tanya while she worked as a bar maid in Mumbai, police said. A year after their marriage, the couple had moved into this rented accommodation six months ago.
“Fed up with his secret double-life, Bahadur frequently quarrelled with Tanya over petty issues and apparently wanted to get rid of her. He hatched a conspiracy and on the fateful night spilled petrol in the bedroom and set it on fire,” said a police officer.
CCTV cameras installed in the building have captured Bahadur fleeing the spot after committing the heinous crime. A Bandra resident, he runs a jewellery business and was absconding at the time of filing this report.
“With the accused at large and the woman still not in a position to give her statement, the exact sequence of events is yet to be established. We are on trail of the accused and will nab him soon,” said senior police inspector Jagdish Shinde.
While the body of the deceased has been sent for autopsy, a case under 302 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.
