Updated on: 05 April 2023 03:30 PM IST | Mumbai
S S Nadar | news@debotimes.in

A newly married man and his brother died on Monday after a home theatre music system he received as a wedding gift exploded as soon as it was plugged in. Four others were seriously injured in the blast.

Chhattisgarh Police have now solved the case and arrested the former lover of the newly married woman for allegedly planting a bomb in the electronic device to kill the couple, an official said on Wednesday.

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

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

The cops said that when the groom switched on the home theatre system after connecting its wire to an electric band, there was a huge explosion, which led to Merawi's death on the spot. His brother, on the other hand, succumbed during treatment.

The incident took place in Chhattisgarh's Kabirdham district. The explosion's impact led to the collapse of the walls and roof of the room where the home theatre system was kept.

How did the cops nab him?
The probe and call details of family members 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 the Mandai area of Balaghat from where the music system, which had the 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.

Why and how did he commit the crime?
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's power supply as a mechanism to trigger the blast, the police official said.

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

Singh said Markam had worked in a stone crusher plant in 2015-16 in Indore, where he learnt 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 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.