Patna: In a shocking incident, a man allegedly served milk laced with poison to his four children before drinking it himself in Bihar’s Bhojpur district. The father served the milk at dinner on Tuesday night. Three children died Wednesday morning.

The incident occurred at Belwania village, under the Bihiya police station in the district.

Three children named Nandini Kumari (13 years), Tony Kumar (7 years) and Palak Kumari (5 years) lost their lives in hospital during treatment while their father Arvind Kumar and brother Adarsh Kumar are critically ill and battling for their lives in a private hospital.

Arvind Kumar, an electronics shop owner, allegedly mixed poison in the milk. His wife passed away 10 months ago, and he was struggling with huge financial debt

Bhagat Yadav, the SHO of Bihiya police station, said the other family members were not in the house on Tuesday night as they had gone to attend a wedding.

“When they returned around 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday, they found the house locked. They knocked on the door for a brief period, but when no response came from them, they broke the door and found Arvind and four children unconscious, lying on the floor,” Yadav said. “The family members rushed them to Ara Sadar Hospital in critical condition. On Wednesday morning, three children died during the treatment,” Yadav said.