two children were charred to death while their mother is battling for her life in a hospital after a relative set their house on fire at Ghatal in West Midnapore in the wee hours on Friday.
The police suspect that a property-related dispute might have led to the incident.
Police said the accused, Ismail, had locked the house from outside with Rajib Ali, her sister Reshmi Khatun and mother Fatima Bibi inside and set it on fire after pouring kerosene. Fatema's husband and elder son stay outside for their jobs.
The victim's neighbours heard their cries for help but failed to come out as the accused has also locked their houses from outside.
The neighbours took around 15 minutes to break open the door and come out but it was too late by then.
The neighbours informed the police and initiated the work to douse the flames. They brought all three of them out of the house after extinguishing the flames and took them to Ghatal Hospital.
Doctors in the hospital declared Rajib and Reshmi brought dead while their mother was shifted to a city hospital as her condition deteriorated.
Preliminary investigation revealed that their relative Ismail set the house on fire due to some property-related dispute.
Soon after the news of the death of the two children spread in the locality, their neighbours ransacked the house of the accused and set it on fire.
Ismail fled after the incident and Police arrested Ismail's brother-in-law Farid in this connection.