Gift with bomb inside to ex-girlfriend on her wedding kills groom

Chhattisgarh Police have solved the case of a home theatre music system explosion in Kabirdham district and arrested former lover of a newly married woman for allegedly planting a bomb in the electronic device with an intention to kill the couple, an official said on Wednesday.

The woman's husband Hemendra Merawi (30) and his brother Rajkumar (32) were killed following the explosion in the music system, gifted by accused Sarju Markam (33), a married man from Chhapla village in Balaghat district of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, they said.

Markam was arrested from Balaghat on Tuesday after his involvement in the crime surfaced during the investigation, Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh told PTI.

"The accused told the police that he had planted the explosive in the home theatre and gifted it to the newly married couple in a bid to kill them," he said.

Merawi, a resident of Chamari village under Rengakhar police station limits, got married to a 29-year-old woman from nearby Anjana village on March 31 and the wedding reception was held in his house on April 1, he said.

On Monday, when Merawi was trying to switch on the home theatre received as the wedding gift, it exploded. Merawi died on the spot and five others including his elder brother suffered injuries, the official said.

His brother later succumbed during treatment at the district hospital, he added.

The forensic team spotted traces of gunpowder during investigation of the spot following which family members of the bride and groom were questioned, he said.

The questioning and call details revealed that Merawi's wife was in constant touch with Markam. The duo had an affair and Markam was unhappy since the woman stopped talking to him after her marriage got fixed with Merawi, the official said.

Merawi's call details also revealed that he spoke to Markam on March 30, the day when the former's wedding rituals began, he said.

Based on the investigation, police reached a shop in Mandai area of Balaghat from where the music system, which had Sony brand name printed on it, was purchased and questioned the shop owner who confirmed that Markam had bought it, he said.

The police subsequently zeroed-in on Markam, who worked as an auto mechanic in Birsa (Balaghat), and arrested him, the official said.

Markam told the police that he "committed the crime and revealed that he used ammonium nitrate, petrol and gunpowder retrieved from firecrackers, weighing about 2 kg, to make the bomb and fitted it inside the home theatre." He used the device power supply as a mechanism to trigger the blast, the police official said.

Markam came on a motorcycle to Chamari on April 1, the reception day, and placed the wrapped music system along with other gifts and went from there, he said.

Singh said Markam had worked in a stone crusher plant in 2015-16 in Indore and learnt from there how to make bombs using ammonium nitrate.

The accused had collected ammonium nitrate from the same crusher plant and kept it with him, the official said.

After the woman refused to break up her marriage and stopped talking to Markam, he hatched a conspiracy to kill the couple, he added.

So far, the role of any other person has not been surfaced in the offence, the SP said, adding that further investigation is underway.

The accused has been booked under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Explosives Substances Act, he added.