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Murder accused holds his family hostage for 10 hour in Panvel, 4 cops injured in rescue op
The accused allegedly stormed into his brother's house in Panvel and locked himself inside.
A 10-hour-long hostage crisis ended with the dramatic rescue of a family when a murder accused stormed inside his brother's house with an axe and sickle and held his relatives, including his elderly parents, captive over a property dispute.
The dramatic standoff, which began late Wednesday night and stretched into the early hours of Thursday, unfolded in the densely populated Godse Ali area of Mumbai's older Panvel.
The accused, 35-year-old Soban Babulal Mahato, recently out on bail in connection with a 2018 murder case, allegedly stormed into his brother's house and locked himself inside, deputy commissioner of police (Zone II, Panvel) Prashant Mohite said.
Mahato, driven by a long-standing property dispute, took seven members of his own family hostage, including minors and his elderly parents.
Armed with an axe in one hand and a sickle in the other, he locked himself inside the house and issued chilling threats to kill his relatives if police dared to intervene.
Mahato is an accused in a 2018 murder case and was recently released on bail, officials said.
A chilli-powder rescue, a cop injured
After the police were alerted, a team immediately reached the spot. Their initial attempts to persuade Mahato to surrender failed as he threatened the officers, Mohite said.
An additional police force also came to the spot, he said. During the tense standoff, Mahato attacked the police personnel with the weapons, injuring constables Ravindra Pardhi, Madhav Shewale and Sainath Mokal.
Police Naik Samrat Daki sustained a deep injury on his arm while blocking a blow aimed at his head.
Another police personnel sprayed chilli powder at the accused, but it failed to yield any result.
DCP Mohite said that at that point, the fire brigade was called in, and the house's door was broken open to gain entry.
When the police saw the accused holding a sickle to the neck of his 16-year-old niece, constables Daki and Mokal pounced on him and overpowered him. The hostages were finally rescued, he said.
Mahto was finally arrested and a case was registered against him for attempted murder, assault on public servants, and criminal intimidation, along with provisions of the Arms Act, the police said.
