‘Regret killing teen’: Man held for killing 3 neighbours to court

“Since his arrest, Gala has been deeply regretting that he killed Jenil. He did not want to attack anyone but the couple, but ended up doing so because he panicked due to the chaos created by the onlookers,” said an officer. A case of murder and attempted murder has been registered against Gala, who was arrested and produced before a court on Saturday afternoon. Seeking his custody, police told the court that they want to collect evidence related to the case like CCTV footage and videos recorded by the locals as they want to ascertain the ‘exact reason behind the attack’, and what actually ‘triggered Gala to stab his neighbours’ on Friday.

The accused told the court that he had been frustrated as his wife and children left him two months ago. “I have been calling my wife for the past 50 days, but she would not come back. I sent her messages through my son as well, but she had refused to return, because of which, I committed the crime out of frustration,” Gala told the court on Saturday. Police, meanwhile, said that they are investigating to understand the time-frame of the attack being planned. Investigators are trying to identify the shop from where he bought the knife — recovered by police — used for the attack.

The court has sent Gala to police custody till March 29. “The accused strongly believes that his neighbours have been instigating his wife to leave him, and it was only because of them that she left him and moved to her parents’ house with their daughters and son… Gala mainly held the Mistry couple responsible for that, due to which he held a grudge against them and wanted to teach them a lesson,” said an officer. It was revealed during investigation that Gala also had a huge fight with the Mistry couple four years ago, and police had to intervene to settle the dispute.

“Gala has been angry with them since then, and believed that they instigated his wife to leave him,” said the officer.

Seventeen stab injuries were found on Ilabai Mistry’s body, said police, adding that they have also learnt that there was a dispute between Gala and his family members. He wanted to sell his flat and their shop — which they have rented out — but Gala’s wife and children were against it. “They often fought over it,” said an officer.

The family members of Jenil on Saturday evening performed her final rites. Jenil’s mother Snehal is still recuperating, while Waghmare is out of danger, said police.