Chhattisgarh: Bride’s ex-boyfriend ‘gifts’ home theatre rigged with explosives in wedding, kills her husband and three others

The explosion blew away the roof of the house. Image Source: Amar Ujala

On Monday, 3rd March 2023, a blast that took place in a house in the Chamari village of the Kabir Dham district in Chhattisgarh killed 4 persons. The blast took place in the house of a newlywed couple as the home theatre system gifted by the bride’s ex-lover exploded claiming the lives of the groom, his brother, and two others.

The home theatre system was rigged with explosives. Police have arrested the accused Sarju Markam, the ex-boyfriend of the newly married woman, from Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh.

The couple had married just three days before the incident. Sarju Markram had gifted them a home theatre system rigged with explosives. Sarju Markam is married and is a father of two children. He was the ex-boyfriend of the bride. To take ‘revenge’ on her, Sarju Markam rigged a Sony 4.1 25000 PMPO home theatre system with explosives and gifted it to the bride at her wedding. It exploded on Monday, April 3, killing four persons.

Hemendra Meravi, a native of Chamari village, married Anjana – a girl from the same village on Friday, March 31. On Monday, someone turned on the recently received home theatre as the family members were still unpacking the wedding gifts. This led to an unfortunate tragedy as the home theatre system exploded. The wall collapsed and the roof was blown off by the explosion’s tremendous force. The house was quickly reduced to ruins. The explosion could be heard from a long distance away.

Hemendra Meravi died in the explosion. His brother Rajkumar was seriously injured. He succumbed to injuries while being taken to the hospital. Six other persons in the family including a child aged one and a half years were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. Two of the injured died during the treatment.

SP Umed Singh told that 29-year-old Anjana was in a relationship with 33-year-old Sarju Markam who wanted Anjana to become his second wife. The accused, Sarju Markam, is a resident of Balaghat and is an auto mechanic. Anjana had reportedly broken up with him after a fight. Her family arranged for her to marry Hemendra. The accused decided to take revenge on Anjana for ditching him and marrying someone else.

Umed Singh further told that when questioned about the gift received at the wedding, the girl’s family denied getting the home theatre. The accused left the home theatre in the pandal on the day of the wedding. No one knew about it. When the goods were packed, the music system also came into the house along with other wedding gifts.

After this, when the box of the home theatre was examined, the information about the electronic showroom was detected in it. The police went there and gathered information. The shopkeeper then gave information about the accused.

The accused, Sarju Markam, had used ammonium nitrate, and petrol to convert the home theatre system into a bomb. The accused worked in a mine in Madhya Pradesh in 2005. He is believed to have stolen the ammonium nitrate from there. One and a half kg of gunpowder was also used to make the explosives. SP Umed Singh has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for the investigation team.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia