Four members of a family were hacked to death by relatives in Karnataka’s Karwar on Friday evening over a property row, police said.
Shambhu Bhat (65), his wife Mahadevi Bhat (60), their son Rajeev Bhat, 34, and daughter-in-law Kusuma Bhat, 30, were killed by Sridhar Janardhan Bhat along with his wife’s relative Vinay Bhat with iron rods.
Bhatkal Rural police inspector Chandan Gopal said the elder son, Sridhar Bhat. was behind the crime. “There was a tussle between Sridhar Bhat and his father Shambhu and brother Rajeev. Sridhar was forcing his father to give his share of property for which the latter did not agree. There was also pressure on Sridhar from his wife’s family on the matter,” Gopal said.
He added that Sridhar’s father was not agreeing to share the ancestral property, a small piece of agricultural land. “Sridhar Bhat and Vinay Bhat, who is a close relative of the former’s wife, attacked the family members , killing them on the spot.”
Sridhar, absconding since the incident, has been taken into custody, while Vinay Bhat is at large, Gopal said.