The murder of a teacher, his wife and two young children in Amethi was being planned by the suspect for nearly a month and he had announced his intentions publicly, albeit in a cryptic manner, police have said. They said the man also intended to kill himself afterwards.

Sunil Kumar, his wife Poonam Bharti and their two daughters – who were just one and six years old – had been shot dead at their home in Amethi’s Bhavani Nagar on Thursday. Soon after the gruesome murders, it had come to light that Bharti had filed a police complaint against one Chandan Verma less than two months ago in which she had said that he had threatened to kill her on more than one occasion and would be responsible if anything happened to her or her family.

In a first information report (FIR), Bharti had said she had gone to a hospital in Rae Bareli on August 18 when Verma had misbehaved with her and then slapped her and her husband when she had protested. 

“He said ‘If you report this I will kill you’. He has threatened to kill me before this as well. My family is in danger. If any incident or accident happens with me or my husband in the future, Chandan Verma will be responsible. I request you to register my complaint and take appropriate action,” she had said.

On Friday, sources in the police said that they have taken Chandan Verma into custody and found a screenshot of his WhatsApp status from September 12 in which he said: “5 people are going to die, I will show you soon.”

The officials said the screenshot and their initial investigation have pointed to Verma’s plan of killing himself after murdering the family. He had also allegedly visited a famous temple in Amethi just before the murders were carried out. 

Political Fallout

The killings have also led to the Uttar Pradesh government, led by Yogi Adityanath, coming under attack from the opposition. Officials said the chief minister had taken note of the incident and immediately asked for the culprits to be punished, while handing over the investigation to the UP Special Task Force (STF).

“The incident that happened in Amethi district today is highly condemnable and unforgivable. My condolences are with the bereaved family. @UPGovt stands with the victim’s family in this hour of grief. The culprits of this incident will not be spared at any cost, strictest legal action will be taken against them,” Yogi Adityanath had posted on X on Thursday. 

Hitting out at the UP government, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had kept his reaction short and appeared to wonder whether agencies meant to keep the people of the state secure were present at all.

“Koi hai, kahin hai (Is anyone there, is someone there anywhere),” Mr Yadav said in a post on X while sharing a news report on the murders.

Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma from the Congress said on Friday that Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had spoken to the father of one of the victims.

“The incident shows the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the state. The state government has been patting its back over law and order and if things are so good, how are such incidents happening,” Mr Sharma asked.

Having triggered a row with her remarks on the Naga Chaitanya-Samantha divorce, Telangana Minister Konda Surekha has stirred the pot and said that senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader KT Rama Rao may be responsible for his father K Chandrashekar Rao allegedly not being seen in public for a while.

Speaking in the former Telangana chief minister’s constituency of Gajwel on Thursday, Ms Surekha urged members of her party, the Congress, to file a missing case for K Chandrashekar Rao, who is popularly known as KCR. 

The minister’s comments came just a day after the Rao family released photos in which KCR can be seen attending the birthday celebrations of his wife Shobha.

On Wednesday, Ms Surekha had sparked controversy by linking KT Rama Rao, or KTR, with the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. “It is KT Rama Rao because of whom Samantha’s divorce happened.  He was a minister at the time and used to tap the phones of the actresses to find out their weaknesses and use them for blackmail… He used to make them drug addicts, everyone knows this, everybody is aware,” she had said. 

Her comments had been panned by top actors in the Telugu film industry.

“It is a shame that celebs and members of the film fraternity become soft targets as they provide instant reach and attention. We as the Film Industry stand united in opposing such vicious verbal assaults on our members,” veteran actor Chiranjeevi had said.

‘RRR’ actor NT Rama Rao Junior had also hit out at Ms Surekha and said dragging personal lives into politics was a new low. 

Samantha Ruth Prabhu had asked the minister to leave her out of political battles and respect people’s privacy.

“My divorce is a personal matter and I request that you refrain from speculating about it… To clarify: my divorce was mutual consent and amicable, with no political conspiracy involved,” the actor said.

Ms Surekha had apologised to Ms Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya, but refused to withdraw her allegations against KTR, demanding his apology. 

“I spoke about a family. It was an unexpected slip of the tongue on my part. When I saw their tweets, I felt bad. I felt bad that I hurt someone. So I unconditionally withdraw my statement. But, in KTR’s case, there is no going back. I demand his apology,” the minister said. 

Legal Action

Megastar Nagarjuna Akkineni, the father of Naga Chaitanya, filed a defamation complaint against Ms Surekha on Thursday and accused her of making the allegations “with the sole intention of damaging the complainant’s personal, professional, and familial reputation” despite being “fully aware” that the statements were false. 

KT Rama Rao has also sent a defamation notice to Ms Surekha and asked her to tender an unconditional public apology. 

Trolling

BJP leader Raghunandan Rao has also, meanwhile, filed a complaint under the Information Technology Act after he and Ms Surekha were trolled by social media handles allegedly linked to the BRS. During a recent event, Mr Rao had honoured Ms Surekha with a garland and this, the BJP leader said, had led to childish comments about them getting married, including some indecent ones. 

Mr Rao filed the complaint against BRS MLA Harish Rao, who he claimed had also made one such comment, and KT Rama Rao, alleging that the trolling was done by people paid by the party. 

Ms Surekha had also said she had lost sleep because of the comments. 

“I am questioning KCR, KTR, and Harish Rao. If the women in your home were trolled in the same way… You were ministers for 10 years, it’s your responsibility to respect women. If you continue to troll, there will be consequences. Harish Rao and KTR should apologise immediately,” she had said. 

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