Maharashtra: Villager killed after dispute in Thane; hunt on for accused

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A man has allegedly killed a 55-year-old villager following an old dispute in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday, reported news agency PTI.

The incident took place at Pacchapur village in Bhiwandi area on Wednesday and a search was on for the accused, inspector B R Kumbhar from Padgha police station said, reported PTI.

The deceased and the accused had a dispute over some land issues. They again had a quarrel over it on Tuesday and the victim then beat up the accused, he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the accused caught hold of the victim and allegedly thrashed him with wooden logs, the official said, reported PTI.

The victim collapsed and died on the spot, he said.

The body was later sent to a government hospital for postmortem, reported PTI.

Based on a complaint by the deceased's son, the police on Thursday registered an FIR against the accused under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder) and efforts were on to trace him, the official said.

In another case, police have arrested a man and detained two girls for allegedly killing a 52-year-old Mauritian national on a hill in Navi Mumbai's Belapur area, an official said on Wednesday, reported PTI.

The victim, whom the accused had befriended, had been staying in Belapur with his son since the past few months and was in search of a job, he said.

"On May 18, the body of an unidentified man was found on the Parsik hill in Belapur. After that, the police registered a case of murder and launched a probe. The police also circulated the picture of the victim over social media, following which his identity was established," senior inspector Giridhar Gore of the CBD police station said, reported PTI.

"The victim was identified as Navikumar Gurudatta Babu, a Mauritian national. As per the investigation, he came to India eight months back and while he was hunting for a job in a hotel, he met the three accused persons and befriended them," he said, reported PTI.

The victim earlier worked as a manager with a renowned hotel in Mauritius, the official said.

During the probe, the police received a tip-off that the accused was seen with another man and two girls in the locality on the day of his murder, he said.

"The police then detained a man, identified as Sayyed Mustakin Khan. During his interrogation, the police got the information that the victim had gone to Parsik Hill in Belapur along with Khan and the two girls on May 17 and all of them consumed liquor together, which they frequently did," the police official said, reported PTI.

During the probe, the police found that the victim teased one of the girls, following which there was an altercation between the victim and three others, who smashed the victim to death and fled the scene, he said, reported PTI.

The police recovered two blood-stained scarves of the girls from the spot, which indicated the involvement of the two girls, he said.

A local court has remanded Khan in police custody till May 23, while the two girls have been sent to the remand home.

(With inputs from PTI)