Navi Mumbai: The Panvel City police on Wednesday arrested two men for allegedly murdering Sitabai Ramdas Khutle (75) and her daughter-in-law Aparna Madhukar Khutle (28) over a property dispute.
The accused, Satish Narayan Khutle (34) and Rajan Shravan Udare (38), are relatives of the deceased.
Sitabai and Aparna were killed around 12.45 p.m. on Tuesday. Neighbour Sarita Mukadam (45), heard their cries and looked in through the window. Though she saw two men fleeing from the rear door, she did not see their faces.
“The motive is suspected to be a property dispute. Satish is the son of Aparna’s brother-in-law, and lived next door to them. Udare is a cousin of Satish,” Joint Police Commissioner Prashant Burde said.
According to the police, when the family property was divided, Satish’s family did not receive their expected share.
Besides, Aparna’s husband, Madhukar, had allegedly taken over some land belonging to Satish’s family while constructing his home.
Vague answers
Aparna married Madhukar (55) around two years ago, and was his second wife. “The accused have been giving vague answers and we are investigating if there is any other motive,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone II) Rajendra Mane said.
Satish was arrested from Turmale village in Panvel on Wednesday morning, while Udare was arrested in the evening from the village’s forest area after Satish named him as his accomplice, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Panvel) Nivrutti Kolhatkar said.
The accused were presented in court on Thursday and have been remanded in police custody till October 18.
“The accused told the court that they acted in anger and feel guilty about it. The police have recovered one weapon and there is nothing more to recover, hence we had opposed the remand application,” R.K. Patil, the lawyer who appeared for the accused, said.
The police, however, said they are yet to recover the murder weapon.
“The weapon we recovered from the spot was not used in the crime,” senior police Inspector Vinod Chavan from Panvel City Police Station said.
He said they are also investigating if anyone else was involved in the crime.
