Pune: Bodies found in river last week a case of 'mass murders'
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Jan, 2023 12:47 PM
Pune, Jan 25 (IANS) In a startling revelation, the Pune Police said that the seven bodies fished out of the Bheema River in the past one week, may have been victims of a macabre case of 'mass murder' and four persons have been nabbed here on Wednesday.
As per preliminary investigations, the motive behind the murders, a senior citizen couple, their daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren, is believed to be a family feud arising out of certain superstitions.
The development came after the Pune Police had retrieved the bodies from different locations in the vicinity of Yavat village in the Bheema River at Daund for six days from January 18-23.
They were described as labourers from Beed who had settled in a village in Parner in adjoining Ahmednagar district.
The victims Mohan Uttam Pawar, his wife Sangita Pawar, daughter Rani Shyam Phulware, her husband Shyam Phulware, and their three children.
The first body of a woman was spotted by locals on January 18, and after a search in the river with motorboats and divers scanning several hundred metres, the remaining victims were brought out over the next six days.
Even as the incident sent shock among people in the three districts, the Pune Police cracked into action by setting up multiple probe teams and managed to solve the case by arresting four suspects, currently in detention.
The Chief Minister said the government is fully sensitive towards checking cross-border infiltration in Punjab. He said Punjab Police is constantly in touch with the Border Security Force (BSF) and other agencies for this purpose.
While briefing the officers, the DGP said the topmost priority of the government, as directed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, is to further strengthen the fight against drugs to make Punjab a drug-free state, besides eliminating the gangster culture, maintaining law and order, and detection of crime.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased, whereas Rs 15,000 as immediate relief for the injured. He said free treatment would be provided to the injured.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday carried out his first Cabinet expansion by inducting five legislators, including second-time MLA Aman Arora, into his council of ministers. The expansion came in less than four months of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sweeping to victory in the Assembly elections by winning 92 seats of the 117 seats.
The police have so far managed to nab four of the accused, including one woman, who have been identified as Gurjant Singh (31), Navjot Singh (30), Satpal Singh (28) and Gurpreet Kaur (30).
The ambidextrous sharpshooter, identified as Ankit alias Chhota, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, was most desperate to commit the crime."He fired simultaneously from two pistols in his two hands," H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Special Commissioner (Special Cell), said during a media briefing.
