Father, son get death for killing six of a family

Prime accused Prakash Dawal Patil with the help of his son Sandeep, had shot dead his mother Kesharbai (65), brother Supdu Dawal Patil and his wife Pushpalata (35), son Rakesh (20) and two daughters Rupali (22) and Poonam (16). The victims were found dead in their house at Soyegaon village near Malegaon on October 25, 1996.

The house was found locked with a note stuck on the door stating that Supdu and his family had gone out for some days. A family friend, suspecting foul play, then called in the police which broke open the door to discover that the entire family had been shot dead.

The police have arrested Prakash Patil and his son Sandeep, who absconded after the incident. Sandeep, a student of an engineering college in Pune was arrested from the college hostel. During interrogation, Sandeep confessed to the crime and handed over the six bullets hidden below a bridge.

Investigations have proved that Prakash with the help of his son had killed his mother and the entire family of his brother over a property dispute.

The case was transferred from Malegaon to the Nashik court. The district government pleader Vishwas Parakh was specially appointed to work as the prosecutor in the case. Parakh said his appointement came in the wake of complaints from witnesses against M D Q Syed, assistant government pleader, who was handling the prosecution earlier.

The court after examining 42 witnesses held Prakash and his son Sandeep guilty of the killings and sentenced them both to death. Incidentally, Supdu was an agricultural officer, also engaged in farming. His son was studying in a college while his elder daughter was a medical student and the younger daughter was a college student. Prakash was an employee of the Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute while his son Sandeep was an engineering student. The incident rattled Malegaon and a bandh was also observed in the town after the incident.