BJP activist, 4 family members murdered in Nagpur

Police said Kamlakar Pawankar’s brother-in-law, who was jailed for four years for murdering his wife Savita in 2014, is the prime suspect in the mass murder.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activist was brutally murdered, along with his aged mother, wife, daughter and his nephew, allegedly by his brother-in-law early Monday morning after a tiff the previous night over repayment of a sum of Rs five lakh which the suspect owed him, police said.

People gather outside BJP worker Kamlakar Pawankar’s residence in Nagpur on Monday. (ANI Photo/Twitter)

Deputy commissioner of police Nilesh Varne said the victims were murdered when they were sleeping at their Aradhana Nagar home.

Kamlakar Pawankar, 45; his mother Meerabai, 72; wife Archana, 40; their daughter Vedanti, 12, and six-year-old nephew Krishna Palatkar are suspected to have been killed by a sharp weapon.

Police said Pawankar’s brother-in-law Vivek Palatkar (34) who was jailed for four years for murdering his wife Savita in 2014 is the prime suspect in the mass murder. Palatkar had been released from jail three months ago. Police have seized his two-wheeler from Pawankar’s house.

Pawankar is said to have helped his brother-in-law secure his release from jail after a long legal battle. He reportedly spent over Rs 5 lakh in legal fees for Palatkar’s release. Palatkar had been sentenced to 20 years in jail by the trial court before the Bombay high court acquitted him three months ago, police said.

Following Palatkar’s release from jail, Pawankar had been pressuring him to repay the amount he had spent as legal fees, police said. He reportedly insisted that Palatkar sell his 10-acre agriculture land and repay the debt but the accused rejected the suggestion.

Palatkar was in Pawankar’s house on Sunday night and an argument ensued between them in the dining table on the issue again. Palatkar whose son and daughter used to stay with the Pawankar family when he was in jail were also in the house Sunday night.

Police said that he killed all of them with a sharp weapon as they slept. It was not known why he killed his son, Krishna while his daughter Meetali (10) and Pawankar’s other daughter Vaishanavi (11) were unharmed.

“There were no signs of struggle or robbery. We have sent the bodies for post mortem,” Varne said. Police were looking for Palatkar who is absconding since the murders came to light.

Pawankar was a realty dealer and a local BJP activist. He also had a shop of electronic spare parts. He was very active within the saffron party and he was one of the working committee members of the city BJP unit.