Patna: An army man in Bihar shot dead his young wife and just-married sister-in-law before killing himself in a running car, apparently angry that he was bitten by mosquitoes in his father-in-law’s home resulting in dengue fever.

Police said army man Vishnu Sharma, 35, was being taken to Patna for treatment of dengue fever when he suddenly took out his service revolver and shot dead his wife and sister-in-law from close range before shooting himself dead in Patna on Sunday.

His two children aged 7 and 6 narrowly escaped death after the driver hurriedly stopped the car on bearing the sound of fire and cried for help. By the time local villagers reached near him, he had killed himself too.

Witnesses said while travelling by car the army man had a bitter altercation with his wife when he said had he not visited his father-in-law’s home, he would not have fallen victim to dengue fever.

“He (army man) was saying that he was bitten by mosquitoes at his in-law’s house as a result of which he suffered from dengue fever. This was strongly opposed by his wife and sister-in-law after which he killed both of them with his service revolver in a fit of rage,” his close relative travelling in the car Mithilesh Thakur told the media on Monday.

Family members said the soldier had gone into depression for suffering from dengue fever and he was also being treated for this disease. They said they never knew he had carried firearm with him while going for treatment.

The army man was posted in Gujarat and had come to his father-in-law’s home last month to participate in the wedding of his sister-in-law whom he also killed. “Papa first killed aunty and then mummy before killing himself,” his elder son Virat, 7, told the media.

Soon after getting the information, the police reached the spot and began investigation. “During investigation, it has come to light that army man was suffering from dengue for the last over a month and his behaviour was not normal recently due to his illness,” the local deputy superintendent of police Manoj Kumar Pandey said.