Hunter mistaken for prey, shot dead by mates in Palghar

Palghar police found the body of a missing hunter, accidentally shot by a group member. Another member reportedly died later, but police deny foul play.

PALGHAR: Palghar police on Wednesday recovered the body of 60-year-old man who was reported missing more than a week ago from the forest near Boresheti village. The old man was part of 12-member amateur hunters’ group that went on an expedition in the forest on January 28 and was accidentally shot dead by one of the group members, said police.

Ramesh Janya Vartha, the deceased

Rumours suggest another member of the group who died three days later also received bullet injuries during the expedition which led to his death. But police dismissed the claim saying he died to illness.

The area around Boresheti village is hilly and densely forested. According to residents of nearby villages, it is inhabited by tigers and a large number of wild boars weighing above 200 kg, who regularly visit Ambyache Pani, a waterbody in the valley, to quench their thirst.

According to the police, on the night of January 28, a group of 12 men from Boresheti, Kirat, Rawate, Aakoli, Shigaon and other villages set out on an expedition to hunt wild boars with indigenous firearms and other weapons. Some of them also took along utensils, edible oil and spices intending to cook the prey in the forest itself.

A few group members positioned themselves on a mountain ridge while others approached the spot where they expected to find the boars silently, without using any lights to avoid alerting the prey.

At some point, Sagar Hadal, a member of the group, fired a round at a moving target, assuming it was a boar. The bullet, however, pierced through Ramesh Janya Vartha, a resident of Boresheti, resulting in his death on the spot. Other group members then covered the body with vegetation and returned to their homes, said police.

“We started investigating the matter after Amita Ramesh Vartha, wife of the deceased, filed a missing complaint,” said an officer from Manor police station. Police detained seven people for questioning and based on their revelations, recovered the body on Wednesday and sent it for postmortem.

Palghar superintendent of police Balasaheb Patil confirmed the recovery of the body and four illegal firearms.

“We are in the process of registering a case of culpable homicide against the accused,” said the officer quoted earlier.

Meanwhile, Ankush Raghya Mahaloda, a resident of Shigaon village and a member of the group that went hunting on January 28, died three days later on January 31 and was cremated the same day. The buzz among villagers indicates he was hit by a bullet on his leg during the expedition and was carried home by other group members. He passed away due to excessive bleeding and possibly poisoning due to the bullet injury, said villagers.

“Ankush was not taken to any medical institution for treatment to maintain secrecy,” a villager alleged.

The police, however, denied that his death was linked to the hunting expedition, and claimed he died due to illness.