Depressed man who killed kids, attempts suicide

A day after two kids - Janhvi and Parag Shah - were found murdered at Kasara Ghat along the Mumbai-Nashik highway on Tuesday, their father, who was considered a prime suspect by police, attempted to kill himself by slashing both his wrists at the same spot on Wednesday.

Police investigating the double murder were on the lookout for the father, and acting on a hunch decided to visit the murder spot. They found Panvel resident Nitin Shah in an unconscious state with his wrists slit yesterday morning, a few metres from where his kids were found.

"We admitted him [Nitin] to the Thane Civil hospital after which he was shifted to J J Hospital where he is undergoing medical treatment. Only when he recovers, we can decide what action to take against him," said a police officer from Kasara police station.

According to police, Nitin confessed that he killed his kids as he was depressed with his mentally unstable wife. "He was treating his wife's ailment since the last five years and was frustrated. Hence, he carried out the act," said Ramesh Ghadvale, senior police inspector at Panvel police station.

Nitin, who works as a salesman at a garment showroom in Panvel, wanted to kill himself, but was worried about the future of his kids. He therefore killed them first by strangulating them and then tried to kill himself, said cops.

According to police sources, Nitin was found after the police conducted a second search operation at Kasara Ghat. Cops said Nitin was a suspect from the beginning, and that they believed that he had either killed his children in cold blood and gone into hiding, or killed himself as well.

"On a hunch, we sent a police team to Kasara Ghat to conduct a more detailed search. The team ventured into the forest near the Ghat, and found Nitin lying unconscious under a tree. Both his wrists had self-inflicted wounds, and he had lost a lot of blood," said Ravindra Sengainkar, superintendent, Thane Rural police. u00a0