If anything happens, he’ll be responsible: Amethi family shot dead had told cops

The family of a school teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi, who was shot dead on Thursday, had previously filed an FIR against.

The accused, stating that he would be responsible if anything happens to them, police said. The complaint by the teacher’s wife had also accused him of eve-teasing. On Thursday, a group of armed men, including the identified accused Chandan Verma, barged into the teacher’s house, opened fire on all the members, and fled the scene. The 35-year-old teacher, Sunil, his wife Poonam (32), their daughter Drishti (6), and their one-year-old daughter were killed in the attack.

The probe found that the teacher’s wife had lodged an FIR against Chandan Verma in Rae Bareli on August 18, under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and for eve-teasing, Anoop Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police, told news agency PTI.

According to the officer, the complaint mentioned that “if anything happens to her or her family,” Verma should be held responsible for it. The police are yet to trace Verma. However, the officer said it is not yet clear if the deaths are related to the case.

The investigation also revealed that Verma had written in a WhatsApp chat that “five people will die,” indicating a plan to kill all four family members and then commit suicide, according to sources. The door of the house was opened when Chandan knocked, and he fired at them with an illegal .32-bore pistol, official sources added.

Sunil was a government school teacher employed at Panhona Composite School in Singhpur. Before becoming a teacher in 2020, he had served in the Uttar Pradesh police. The police have formed teams to investigate the matter, with the Local Intelligence Unit and Special Operations Groups also assisting in the investigation.