Two held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for murder of Bihar family

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The police in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have arrested two key accused in the brutal murder and dismemberment of a family of four in Bihar’s Kaimur district — including two children — after receiving a tip from Bihar police. The accused had allegedly been hiding in the city and working in Shendra MIDC to evade suspicion.

The arrested men have been identified as Gautam, alias Rahul Gupta, a 22-year-old resident of Daharak village in Ramgarh area of Kaimur district, and Deepak Rajput (27), originally from Nachanwel in Kannad taluka and currently residing in Jadhavwadi. The alleged mastermind, Vikas Gupta, has already been arrested by the Bihar police.

Police commissioner Pravin Pawar said swift action was taken after receiving intelligence inputs. “Our teams immediately verified the inputs and launched a targeted search operation. Within a few hours, both accused were traced and detained from the Sharad tea point in the Jadhavwadi area,” he said.

Investigators said the killings stemmed from a long-standing land dispute and alleged harassment of the accused brothers’ elderly mother by the deceased couple.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Ratnakar Navale said the accused claimed that the elder brother, Krishna Murari (45), and his wife, Durgesh Kumari, allegedly mistreated their 70-year-old mother. “On the night of May 5, the elderly woman secretly called her younger son, Vikas, and informed him that she had again been assaulted. Enraged over the incident, Vikas allegedly hatched the murder conspiracy from Mumbai,” Navale said.

The police said Vikas contacted his hearing- and speech-impaired brother Rahul and his friend Deepak before travelling to their village.

DCP (Zone-I) Pankaj Atulkar said Krishna Murari was killed on May 7. “The trio allegedly murdered Krishna Murari after overpowering him inside a room and slitting his throat. His wife rushed to the spot after hearing noises, but she too was dragged inside and killed,” he said.

The couple’s children — Ansh (8) and Prachi (4) — were also killed after they returned home and saw their parents’ bodies, the police said, adding that the accused feared being exposed.

According to crime branch inspector Gajanan Kalyankar, the accused confined the elderly mother and a minor family member in another room during the killings. “After the killings, the accused allegedly used a sharp axe-like weapon to dismember the four bodies into 18 pieces during the night. The body parts were packed into suitcases and plastic sacks and later dumped in the Durgavati river and the Karmanasha canal near the Ramgarh-Mohania border,” he said.

To avoid raising suspicion, the accused allegedly pushed their scooter for about 50m before starting it and transporting the body parts for disposal, the police said. They then cleaned the blood-stained house and allegedly covered the floor with fresh cement before fleeing Bihar.

The two arrested accused are being handed over to the Bihar police for further investigation.