19 March,2009 03:17 PM IST | | PTI
Suspected dacoits burnt to death 12 members of a family, including children, in a village near here, police said.
The last night's incident is suspected to be the handiwork of the gang of dacoits led by Sunder Singh Patel or Khar Dushan Patel, they said.
The dacoits sprinkled kerosene on all sides of the house of one Beta Singh in village Bichhiya, about 70 km from here, and set it on fire, police said.
Eleven members of the family were charred to death on the spot while one succumbed to burns in a hospital.
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The victims were identified as Beta Singh (30), Mamta (30), Ram Karan (26), Lakda (12), Prabha (one), Bir Singh (4), Phitki (12), Dhulli (9), Maana (48), Sunni (28) and Kiran (12). The name of a child victim was not yet known.
Satna Superintendent of Police KD Parasar said on Thursday from Bichhiya that police were yet to identify the gang responsible for the gruesome incident.
Dacoits fired at Beta Singh when he was coming home in the evening on a tractor. He escaped and locked himself up in the house, which was then set ablaze, the police official said.
