A businessman, plagued by chronic financial difficulties, burned himself, his wife, and their son on fire inside their car on Tuesday afternoon in the Khapri rehabilitation area. The businessman died, and his wife and son were severely burned. He has been identified as Ramraj Bhat (62) and the injured are Sangita (55) and her son Nandan (25), both of whom are Jaitala locals.
According to accounts, Bhat had a section that manufactured nuts and bolts and supplied them to several companies. His business reportedly suffered losses during the Covid-19 outbreak, putting the family in financial distress. Nandan, his son, is an engineer. Bhat urged Nandan to acquire a job, but he refused, which troubled Bhat even more.
On Tuesday afternoon, Bhat told Sangita and Nandan he would take them out for lunch at a posh hotel on Wardha road. At around 1pm, Bhat stopped his car near the Khapri rehabilitation area and gave Sangita and Nandan something to drink. They suspected something amiss but Bhat told them it was a medi cine to prevent acidity. However, Nandan suspect ed foul play looking at dark colour liquid and refused to drink. At this, Bhat pulled out some flammable substance in a bottle and splashed on all of them and inside the car.
Before Sangita and Nandan could understand what was going on, Bhat set the car on fire from inside. Mother and son immediately got out and started rolling on on the street wet with rainwater.