Delhi businessman ‘inspired’ by Saddam Hussein poisoned in-laws, wife with thallium
- Police say Varun Arora had links on his laptop to stories about the Iraqi dictator’s henchmen using the highly toxic chemical thallium sulphate
- He planned the murders after his wife aborted a baby last year. She is currently in critical condition after eating poisoned fish curry, while two of his in-laws are dead
Devender Mohan Sharma, 65, is a crushed man. He has lost most of his family over the past two months; his wife Anita, 62, died on January 31, while his daughter Priyanka, 27, followed soon after. His other daughter, Divya, 35, fell into a coma last month and is now on a ventilator.
New Delhi police believe the person responsible is Divya’s husband, Varun Arora. The 38-year-old builder has been charged with murder and attempted murder after being “inspired” by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s method for eliminating his rivals.
Investigations of Arora’s laptop revealed that he had searched for “how to kill someone slowly”, and had open links to stories on how Hussein’s henchmen used the highly toxic chemical thallium sulphate to poison people because it worked slowly but lethally.
Thallium – which has no odour or taste – is as deadly as mercury, lead and arsenic. Apart from Hussein, Russia’s KGB is also suspected to have used it on enemies of the state.
“We think he had been poisoning his in-laws, wife and sister-in-law for some time,” said Inspector Surinder Singh of Inderpuri station. “The problem with thallium is that the symptoms are not immediate. They come a few days later so the person doesn’t make any connection with the food they ate.”
Arora told the police that he wanted to stop his wife and her family’s “harassment”, a charge his father-in-law has denied, while the police said he planned the poisonings after his wife aborted a pregnancy last year.