A 55-year-old man, accused of killing two women and an infant by setting them ablaze in Nashik city of Maharashtra, escaped from train when he was being brought back by police from Uttar Pradesh, an official said.
Jalaluddin Khan, the accused, escaped from the Zelam Express between Ganj Basoda and Vidisha railway stations in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday night, police said.
Khan had been arrested on Tuesday by a Nashik police team from his village Kanhothia in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh and was being brought back by train.
Sometime after Ganj Basoda, Khan told Assistant police inspector Deepak Girme and a police constable who were with him that he wanted to go to toilet. Taking advantage of darkness, he jumped out when the train slowed down, said Madhukar Kad, in-charge of Panchavati police station here.
The two policemen also jumped out from the moving train but Khan gave them the slip. The policemen suffered minor injuries, Kad said.
City police have now sent another team to Uttar Pradesh to track down the accused, he added.
On August 5, Khan, who had an affair with Sangita Devre (40), resident of Kalika Nagar area, had an altercation with her at her house.
In a fit of rage, he allegedly poured kerosene on Devre, her daughter Priti Shendge (19), and Priti’s nine-month-old daughter Sidhhi, and set them on fire.
While the child died on the spot, Devre and Shendge died during treatment.
