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.
According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.K. Maheshwari will pronounce the order on January 25. The apex court had reserved its order on Mishra's plea on January 19.
Accused Aaftab Amin Poonawala is accused of killing his live-in partner Walkar and then chopping her body into several pieces and storing them in a refrigerator before disposing of them in the Chhatarpur forest near his house over a period of three months.
After the process of identification is over, the bodies will be brought to Ghazipur. On January 16, family members of the four youths were sent to Kathmandu by road with head of Chak Jainab village Vijay Jaiswal, nayab tehsildar and a revenue inspector to claim and bring back the bodies.
Also on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of Parakram Jayanti and said: "Today, on Parakram Diwas, I pay homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and recall his unparalleled contribution to India's history."
Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Health Minister Balbir Singh said the inauguration program would be held in Amritsar on January 27. The Chief Minister will inaugurate the clinics, while AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will attend the programme as the chief guest.
A police official said that during normal checking of vehicles on Sunday night in Imphal, two persons were apprehended and the drugs, smuggled from Myanmar, were recovered from their procession. The drug peddlers, identified as Md. Abdul Salam and Md. Wasim Akram, have been arrested under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
