Elderly brothers clubbed to death by mentally ill man in Palghar

Two elderly brothers bludgeoned to death in Palghar district by a mentally ill man from Bihar. Accused arrested after 2-hour search by villagers and police.

MUMBAI: Two elderly brothers were bludgeoned to death on Thursday evening in Palghar district allegedly by 30-year-old man from Bihar who appeared mentally ill. The accused smashed the heads of the two men with a spade-like tool and chased after a third person before escaping into the adjacent creek. He was arrested following a two-hour search by around 400 villagers and policemen.

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The incident occurred in Kudan village near Tarapur, and the victims were identified as Mukund Patil, 92, and his younger brother Bhimvrao Patil, 84. Bhimrao was assaulted by the accused in the farm, located around half a kilometre away from their residence. When he did not return even an hour after the farm labourers had gone back home, Mukund stepped out to check on him, only to be assaulted by the accused. The attack was so brutal that both their heads were completely smashed, said police officials.

According to the police, at around 7pm, Jitesh Patil, who was jogging on the road leading to Mothe Kudan, spotted the accused with blood stains on his clothes. When he chased after Patil, the latter ran back to his house. He then tried breaking open the main door with the spade-like tool, while Patil’s father took the backdoor route and grabbed the tool from him. The Patils tried to nab him, but he managed to slip away into the barren area around the adjacent Karankhadi creek.

The double murders came to light when villagers gathered and started searching for the accused. As the bodies of the two brothers were found at different spots, police suspect that the accused might have chased the 92-year-old Mukund for some distance and attacked him.

At around 9pm, after news about the incident went viral on social media, hundreds of villagers from Kudan and Mothe Kudan stepped out of their houses and began helping the police in searching for the accused.

Over 300 villagers and 100 policemen, including members of the rapid action force, searched the area around the creek for over two hours, using mobile torches and flashlights. At around 11.15pm, they found the accused about a kilometre away from the place of incident, hiding in the waters of the creek.

Villagers gathered on both sides of the creek once the accused was spotted. He tried to swim and flee the spot but police officer Manoj Ambhire dived in and nabbed him with the help of his colleague Kunal Dhanivare, following which he was taken to the Tarapur police station. In custody, he was seen talking to himself and showed signs of mental instability, said deputy superintendent of police Vikas Naik, who played a key role in the search operation.

Rupesh Patil, an activist from Kudan, said that the accused was spotted in the village at around 5.30am on Thursday. He was talking incoherently and in a language unknown to the villagers and was driven out by them.

The victims were cremated on Friday afternoon.