Man Hacks Father, Sister, and Niece to Death in UP's Prayagraj, Dumps Bodies in Well; Arrested

PTI, Prayagraj (UP), Jan 5, 2026: A man allegedly killed his father, sister, and niece with an axe over a land dispute and threw their bodies into a well in a village in the Ganga Nagar area here, police said on Monday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Ganga Nagar) Kuldeep Gunawat said that on Sunday, one Mukund Patel filed a missing persons report for his father, sister, and niece at the Mauaima police station, expressing suspicion that his elder brother, Mukesh Patel, may be involved in their disappearance.

According to the officer, when a police and special operations group (SOG) team took Mukesh Patel into custody and questioned him on Monday, he revealed that he had been embroiled in a land dispute with his father, Ram Singh (55), ever since the latter had transferred four bighas of land to his brother Mukund.

The accused said he had demanded 10 biswa (unit) of land from his father and was furious when his father refused, the DCP said.

On January 2, with the intention of killing his father, Mukesh went to the house at night and tried to strangle him, police said. During this time, Mukesh's sister Sadhana (21) and niece Aastha (14) tried to stop him. Mukesh then attacked them with an axe lying nearby, killing all three, they added.

Subsequently, taking advantage of the dense fog on the night of January 2, Mukesh dumped the bodies into a well near the house and covered it with straw, the senior officer said.

Based on the accused's confession, the three bodies were recovered from the well, and the axe used in the murders was also recovered, he added.

The DCP said a country-made pistol and two cartridges were also recovered from Mukesh's possession.

An FIR has been registered against the accused at Mauaima police station, and further legal action is being taken. He added that the bodies have been sent for postmortem examination.