An Indian man has been arrested for murdering his ex-lover’s new husband by sending him a bomb disguised as a wedding gift in the form of a sound system.
The groom Hemendra Merawi, 30, and his brother Raj Kumar, 32, were both killed in the blast, which was activated the moment the booby-trapped equipment was plugged in.
Four others, including an 18-month-boy, were seriously injured after the attack on April 3 in Kabirdham district in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
Police have arrested the unnamed wife’s former lover Sarju Markam, 33, after discovering that he placed the wrapped-up present along with other gifts during a wedding reception event on April 1.
As soon as the family connected the device to the power supply it triggered a huge explosion, collapsing the walls and roof of the room.
During police questioning it emerged that the wife had previously been in a relationship with Mr Markam, who became angry when she was entered into an arranged marriage with someone else, officials said.
Ammonium nitrate, petrol and gunpowder
Mr Markam was married already but was insisting that she become his second wife. His proposal was rejected by the woman’s family.
The police traced the Sony-branded sound system present to a shop in the Mandai area in Madhya Pradesh where the owner confirmed Mr Markam had bought it.
He “confessed that he had planted the explosive in the home theatre and gifted it to the newly married couple in a bid to kill them,” said superintendent of police Lal Umed Singh.
Mr Singh said the defendant used ammonium nitrate, petrol and gunpowder to make the bomb and fitted it inside the home theatre himself.
He reportedly learned how to make bombs while working in a stone crusher plant many years ago.
