An Indian businessman, inspired by the actions of Saddam Hussein, poisoned his wife and her family with a rare chemical, reports The Telegraph.

New Delhi police had arrested Varun Arora on suspicion of murder after the death of his mother-in-law, and a forensic examination had showed that the woman had a high content of thallium in her body.

It was found out that Arora, 39, had preparing a family dinner and had added thallium to the dish, after which his wife had fallen into a coma in February, whereas her sister had died immediately.

Thallium is difficult to detect and leads to slow death, accompanied by lethargy, numbness, overall weakness, and hair loss.

After the death of Arora’s wife, his father-in-law had reported to the police that he suspected his son-in-law for the murder.

Subsequent tests showed that Arora’s wife and children had high levels of thallium in their bodies.

Investigators say Aurora had used his computer to search the Internet for a story about Saddam Hussein's use of the aforesaid chemical.

Varun Arora confessed to buying thallium and poisoning his wife and family to seek revenge because he thought he had been humiliated by them for a long time.

Thallium is a chemical that became known after being used by the secret police of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein against dissidents and opponents.