Mumbai: 4 held, minor detained for murder of two cousins, hunt on for four others

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According to police, the incident took place around 3 am in an open ground in Mharal village of Kalyan Taluka, some distance from Ulhasnagar, when cousins Madan Sunar, 30, an electrician and Raju Sunar, 25, a watchman, were walking past the ground. The accused, led by Anil Pateniya, 19, and four others who were under the influence of alcohol stopped the duo, who hail from Nepal. “They started demanding money from the cousins. Anil started claiming that he was the ‘don’ of the area and they had better give them money to purchase alcohol,” said senior inspector Venkat Andhale. When the cousins, who had also consumed some alcohol, objected to paying up, a scuffle ensued.

Anil then reportedly pulled out a chopper and attacked Madan. Raju intervened and he was attacked by the other accused, said police. “During the fight, Raju pushed Anil who hit him with a stone. Furious at being hit, Anil then started attacking Raju with the chopper. He then took off Raju’s clothes and mutilated his genitals,” Andhale said. He added that after the brothers succumbed to their injuries, the accused left the spot confident that no one would track them down.

The senior inspector added that two of the accused who had blood stained clothes then left the spot on a bike. Three policemen who were on nakabandi duty saw them riding the bike rashly. “On closer inspection they found that the accused had a blood soaked shirt. They were also carrying with them, in the luggage box of the bike, a portion of the mutilated genitals,” the inspector said. One of the two accused who is a minor reportedly confessed to the crime. He then led a 25-member police team to five other accused who were arrested from their residences in Ulhasnagar, Andhale said.

Mahesh Patil, superintendent of police, Thane (Rural), said that initially Anil, who realised the police would arrest them soon told others to claim that they had murdered the duo since the brothers had misbehaved with their sisters. “We however contacted the family members of the accused persons who denied that the deceased has misbehaved with anyone. The accused have a history of going around at night threatening people and taking money from them. This time round when they did not get the money, they took this extreme step.”