2 women held for poisoning 5 of their family in Maha: Police

Two women, Sanghamitra Kumbhare and Rosa Ramteke, have been arrested for the serial murder of five family members in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra.

Two women have been arrested in connection with the serial murder of five members of a family, who died of poisoning within a span of three weeks, in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

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Police identified the accused as Sanghamitra Kumbhare and Rosa Ramteke, both distant relatives, and said the two have confessed to their crime during questioning.

Between September 26 and October 15, Shankar P Kumbhare, a resident of Mahagaon village under Aheri tehsil, along with four members of his family died after falling ill with similar symptoms, raising suspicion that the incidents were linked, Gadchiroli superintendent of police (SP) Neelotpal said. “The pattern was similar — the family members suddenly fell ill, their condition became critical and though they were rushed to hospitals in Nagpur and other places for treatment, they died during treatment,” the SP said. The deceased have been identified as Shankar Kumbhare, his wife Vijaya, their son Roshan Kumbhare and daughter Komal Dahagaonkar — who were residing in Gadaheri — and another daughter Varsha Urade, who was living nearby to her parents, police said.

On September 20, Shankar and his wife Vijaya were rushed to a hospital in Aheri after they experienced a sudden deterioration in their health. They were later shifted to a bigger hospital in Nagpur, where Shankar died during treatment on September 26 and his wife the following day, the SP said. Within days, Komal, Roshan and Varsha were also hospitalised in different medical facilities after suddenly falling ill.

“Their conditions gradually deteriorated. Komal died on October 8, Varsha the next day and Roshan Kumbhare on October 15,” the SP added. The senior police officer said that the manner in which all five died in hospitals during treatment raised suspicion following which four teams were formed to probe the matter. “All of them had similar symptoms such as tingling in limbs, severe pain in the lower back and head, blackened lips and a heavy tongue,” the SP said, adding prima facie the medical officer declared the deaths due to poisoning.

“The exact nature of the poison could not be ascertained in the preliminary examination.”

During probe, it came to light that accused Sanghamitra had married Roshan Kumhare against her family’s wishes. “She told the police that she was being harassed by her in-laws,” the SP said.

Rosa Ramteke, the wife of a brother-in-law of Shankar Kumbhare, had a dispute with Vijaya over an ancestral property. “The accused said they travelled to Telangana last month to obtain a certain type of poison,” Neelotpal said. “They have been booked under section 320 (murder) among others of IPC.”