Solving Crime: How a smiley face drawn in blood led police to the son accused of murdering his mother

A message scrawled in blood, next to the body of a police inspector’s wife, saw the Mumbai police arresting the officer’s son and charging him with the crime. The accused was later granted bail by the Bombay High Court.

Written by Sadaf Modak

Mumbai | Updated: June 8, 2023 03:50 PM IST

3 min read

Siddhant Ganore at Udai Mandir police station in Jodhpur after he was caught by the police (Express Archive)

Listen to this article

Your browser does not support the audio element.

On May 23, 2017, a police inspector in Mumbai found his wife lying dead in their home. Next to her body was a message scrawled in blood which said, “Tired of her. Catch me and hang me.” This was followed by a smiley emoticon.

The nature of the message led the investigators to believe that the murder was committed by someone known to the victim, Deepali Ganore, inspector Dyaneshwar’s wife. Also, there were no signs of forced entry into the home.

Though initially, the FIR was registered against unknown persons on charges of murder, the message led the police to check on the whereabouts of those close to Deepali. The police soon realised that the Ganores’ 20-year-old son, Siddhant, was missing since the murder. Also missing were his clothes and some cash.

Siddhant became suspect number 1 and a search for him began. Based on call data records and other information, he was traced to Jodhpur on May 25, 2017, and brought to Mumbai and arrested.

Trigger warning: The image below may be disturbing for some.

Note written in blood at the crime scene. (Express Archive)

During the probe, the police said that Siddhant had committed the offence over regular arguments with his mother over his studies. The police also said that during the last phone call between Deepali and Dyaneshwar, she had mentioned that Siddhant was home. This, the police claimed, proved that she was ‘last seen together’ with him. The police also seized a pair of pants from a bathroom in the house claiming that there was blood on it that belonged to Deepali.

After his arrest, Siddhant claimed in his defence that he was of an unsound mind and sought to be released on that ground. The court directed him to be referred to medical experts. A report was submitted by a committee of three doctors from the state-run J J Hospital which said that there was no such evidence and that he was fit to stand trial.

Story continues below this ad

Also Read | How a murder accused’s cell phone was accidentally turned on for 10 seconds & helped police catch him

To distance himself from the blood-drawn message, Siddhant had also claimed during the hearing of one of his bail applications before the sessions court that the forensic report was inconclusive on the author of the message. Two of Siddhant’s bail pleas were rejected by the sessions court. He was then granted bail by the Bombay High Court in 2019. The court had said that Siddhant’s act of absconding was a “weak link” in the chain of circumstances and also considered issues with the seizure of the pants from the bathroom.

The trial in the case is yet to conclude.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:

Mumbai