Three of family die in fire; police suspect murder

A man and his two minor children died of burn injuries while his 32-year-old wife is battling for her life in a tragedy police suspect was caused during a domestic quarrel.
A murder case has been registered in this regard as police said that the husband may have set his wife and children on fire before committing suicide by self-immolation.
The four members of the family, among them a toddler, were found unconscious with burn injuries in the wee hours yesterday at their house at a chawl in Ambernath township of the district.
Police said today that the head of the family, Sanjay Choudhary (35), and his son, one-year-old Anuj, died late last night while his daughter Rani (8) died today.

His wife, Madhvi, is in an unconscious condition at JJ Hospital in Mumbai.
"Police have registered offences under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC against Chaudhary as we suspect that he allegedly set his son, daughter and wife on fire before committing self-immolation," said Ambernath police station Assistant Inspector PK Pasalkar.

Police said Chaudhary, who hailed from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, came here some four months back and resided with his family at the 'chawl' (housing colony) in Buvapada locality.
He worked at a garments factory in the Ambarnath Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation area.

According to police, Chaudhary was a drunkard and often used to get into arguments with his wife. They suspect that Sunday's incident might have occurred in a fit of rage.