A 72-year-old man was arrested after he poured petrol on a couple and set them on fire late on Tuesday night in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, police said.
The couple died of burn injuries at the hospital while a woman who had tried to douse the fire is undergoing treatment, police added.
During questioning, the man confessed to the crime and said he had been allegedly storing the petrol for a few months.
The accused was living with the couple since the Covid pandemic in 2020 in Badlipurwa and was a relative of the deceased man.
According to the brother of the deceased, the latter was driving the accused person’s rickshaw for the past two years.
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The accused was asking for his rickshaw to be returned.
When the deceased returned after dropping some of his passengers, the accused poured petrol on him and set him on fire, the brother of the accused said.
The deceased man’s wife who had come to the rescue of her husband was also set on fire. The third person who was the cousin of the deceased person also suffered burn injuries trying to save the duo.
According to ACP, Cantonment, Shiva Singh said an FIR has been lodged on Wednesday morning in this case. The police would produce Ram Narayan in court and seek his remand.
During questioning, the accused told that the deceased had withdrawn ₹1.5 lakh from his bank account after his wife’s death due to Covid and usurped his e-rickshaw too.
“He was humiliated and threatened for asking for his rickshaw; he alleges that he was not given food by the couple. He wanted to teach them a lesson,” an official privy to details said.
“He was storing petrol for more than three months. He used to steal fuel from vehicles at night,” the official added.