A 62-year-old retired auditor of the Central government was found dead and his 28-year-old son was found injured at their residence in Koparkhairane on Monday.
The incident came to light when a resident of the sixth floor of New Krishna Tower CHS at Sector 14 heard cries of help while he was in the lift. He reported the incident to Sanjay Balkrishna Sawant, the manager of the society, and they both tried to find out from which floor the screams were coming from.
After reaching the fifth floor, they found Nikhil Dahotre lying outside the lift of his floor with injuries on his fingers. Mr. Sawant then entered Mr. Dahotre’s flat, room number 502, and saw the hall’s floor covered in blood. He found Mr. Dahotre’s father Vijaykumar bleeding profusely and lying motionless in the kitchen.
Son under suspicion
“Mr. Sawant informed us about the incident at 1.45 p.m. and we reached the spot,” senior police inspector Shivaji Awate from Koparkhairane police station said. According to the police, Mr. Dahotre was a mechanical engineer, but currently unemployed. He was also undergoing treatment for schizophrenia for a year.
Sudhakar Pathare, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I), said, “We suspect the role of the son as he is suffering from schizophrenia. We have learnt that he used to get violent at times and fight with his father. He suffered minor injuries and was taken to Vashi NMMC hospital. A pressure cooker and a hammer were found near the body. We suspect the man was hit on the head with these two objects.”
Mr. Dahotre told the police that two unidentified men came home and attacked him and his father. Mr. Pathare said, “We are scrutinising CCTV footage to verify his claims. Finger print experts, a dog squad and the crime investigation van visited the spot and collected evidence. We will verify the fingerprints on the hammer and the cooker. Prima facie, nothing is missing from the house and robbery as a motive has been ruled out.” The police reported the incident to the deceased’s wife, Minal (58), who is an employee of the Bank of Baroda’s Wadala branch, and her daughter, Neha (28), who stays in Ghansoli.
A case has been filed against an unidentified man under Sections 302 (murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon) of the IPC.
