Former IAF officer held 11 years after killing wife, two daughters

Bengaluru: The VV Puram police have arrested a former IAF officer who was jailed for killing his wife and two daughters to marry another woman, in Assam, after escaping from police custody by throwing chilli powder in the eyes of police personnel in a hospital.

The accused, Dharam Singh Yadav, a sergeant in the IAF, and a native of Haryana was arrested from Nellie in Assam. He had married Anu Yadav of Delhi. After retirement Yadav had bought a house in Vidyaranyapuram of Bengaluru and lived with his wife Anu and two daughters, aged 14 and eight years. He worked as an officer in the purchase department of a private company.

Yadav had uploaded his information on marriage portals seeking a bride, claiming that he was single. A woman from Assam had shown interest in the proposal.

While preparing for the marriage, Yadav hatched a plan to eliminate his wife and two daughters. In 2008, he bludgeoned his wife Anu Yadav and daughters with a wooden log to death. In a bid to avert police suspicion, he slit the throat of his wife and stole some jewellery to portray the murder as the work of robbers.

The police on the basis of circumstantial evidence arrested Dharam Singh. Following his confession that he killed his wife and daughters he was sentenced to two years and 2 months jail. In a bid to escape from jail, he pretended to be suffering from bladder issues. Jail authorities had taken him to the Victoria Hospital with police escort. While he was in the hospital he threw chilli powder in the eyes of the escort police and fled with handcuffs.

The police recently reopened the case and started fresh investigation to nab Dharam Singh. They received information from IAF officials in Delhi that he was still drawing pension. Police teams went to Haryana where they came to know that he was living in Assam with his second wife and two sons.