A 45-year-old man set his ancestral house on fire on after his wife left him along with three minor children over his drinking habit.

According to police, Ashwani Sharma, a resident of Ravindrapuri locality, was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

He lives on the first floor of the two-storey building and sustained minor burn injuries as he was trying to escape while his brother Amit and other family members living on the ground floor are safe.

Krishan Kumar Maurya, sub inspector (Sadar Bazaar), said, "Ashwani works as a truck driver and is an alcoholic. He had an argument with his wife Vijita following which she left home and also took the kids along."

Maurya said, "During questioning, Ashwani said that he had called his wife and asked her to come back. But instead, she replied, 'I don't care even if you set the house on fire'. Upset over this, he threw burnt matchsticks on the bed which soon turned into a massive blaze. Fire tenders were called to douse the flames."

Superintendent of Police (city), Piyush Kumar, said, "So far, no complaint has been received against him. We will produce him before the court so that the court can bound him down under section 107 (security for keeping the peace in other cases) and 116 (inquiry as to the truth of information) of the CrPC." [IANS/NS]