A 55-year-old man and his two sons allegedly killed his younger sibling in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai on Monday, reportedly after a quarrel broke out between them over a long-standing dispute related to their ancestral land.
The accused have been identified as Balaram Patil, a resident of Ghotgaon in Taloja, and his two sons – Manoj Patil (25) and Nitin Patil (22). The three allegedly murdered Balaram’s sibling Nivrutti Patil (52). While Manoj has been arrested, Balaram and Nitin are on the run, as per a police officer.
According to a report by The Times of India, the victim’s married sister, identified as Sunanda Kolekar (38) has lodged a police complaint in connection with the crime. She stated that she and her now-deceased brother Nivrutti were setting up an underground pipeline for a new borewell on their ancestral property. Balaram and his sons took objection to the installation of the pipeline on the land. This sparked a verbal spat.
The three accused, soon after, began thrashing Sunanda and Nivrutti using wooden sticks. Balaram’s elder son Manoj attacked Nivrutti using a sickle. Nivrutti was taken to a hospital, where medics pronounced him brought dead. Sunanda, who managed to escape from the scene, received medical treatment at a hospital in Panvel. Later, she approached the police and lodged a complaint.
This comes weeks after a 35-year-old man and his 29-year-old wife — who was pregnant — were dragged out of their home and hacked to death by their close relatives at a village in Vaishali district of Bihar. A dispute over ancestral property had led to the crime, according to the police.