Alcoholic from Haryana bludgeons wife, two kids with cricket bat in Thane

The wife had moved from Haryana with her kids to live with her brother-in-law who promised them a better life. Suspect on the run, say police

Thane: A 29-year-old man from Hisar, Haryana, who is an alcoholic and has been unable to hold a job for any length of time, allegedly murdered his wife and their two children with a cricket bat in a chawl in Kasarvadavali, Thane, on Thursday.

29 year old Man has killed his wife and two little children (a boy 8 yr old and a girl 6 yr old) in Thane's Kasarwadvali village and is absconding. Police are investigating the scene. Further investigation is being conducted by the Kasarwadvali Police ,in Thane. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

Police suspect Amit Bagadi committed the act in a fit of rage after his wife Bhavna, 24, shifted with their six-year-old daughter Khushi and eight-year-old son Ankush from Hisar, to Thane a few months ago. She chose to stay with Amit’s younger brother Vikas who lives in Jaywant Shinde Chawl in Thane, as he promised to look after the wellbeing of the family, preliminary investigation by the police revealed. Vikas works for a housekeeping company that deputes staff to shopping malls and housing societies.

The accused is on the run and Kasarvadavli police have launched a hunt for him.

This is the second such incident in the last 20 days – on December 1, a 45-year-old businessman in Kalyan killed his 35-year-old wife and seven-year-old son due to suspected financial crisis in his business, in Rambaug.

On Thursday afternoon, the Kasarvadavli police received a call from the owner of the chawl, reporting the murder of the three people. On reaching the 10 x 10 room where they resided, the police team found two children and their mother lying in a pool of blood with suspected head injuries.

An investigating officer said, “The woman was frustrated with her husband’s alcohol addiction and also faced domestic violence. As it impacted the upbringing of her children, she decided to leave Haryana and stay with her brother-in-law Vikas, who assured her children’s better future.” Police learnt about her frustration with her husband and his constant joblessness, after interrogating Vikas. He told the team, she often shared her worries with other members of the family in the past.

The officer also said, Amit surprised the family by suddenly arriving from Haryana on Monday. Vikas left for his job at 7 am on Thursday and when he returned home at 11:30 am, he found the door to the house locked from the outside. On entering, he found his sister-in-law and her children lying in a pool of blood, whereupon he alerted the neighbours.

“Vikas had moved to Thane 10 years ago and has been staying in Jaywant Shinde Chawl for last seven years,” said a neighbour.

When the police visited the spot, they found a cricket bat near the children’s bodies and suspect that it was used as a murder weapon. They suspect that the three were awake at the time of the attack.

An officer from Kasarvadavli police said, “The bodies of the trio have been sent for postmortem. Prima facie, it has been noticed that the accused attacked them on the head with a cricket bat. None of the neighbours heard any noise and the accused fled after locking the door. Two teams have launched a search for the accused and soon we will arrest him.”