Wanting to elope, 65-year-old in Maharashtra’s Khed murders acquaintance, stages his own death
A 65-year-old farmer, who wanted to elope with a woman, allegedly staged his own ‘accidental death’ in Pune district’s Khed taluka by beheading a 48-year-old labourer and mutilating his body in a rotavator, a piece of farm equipment, a probe by the Pimpri Chinchwad police has revealed.
On Monday night, the police arrested the accused farmer, Kerba Chhaban Thorve (65), a Charholi Khurd resident, on the charges of murdering Ravindra Bhimaji Ghenand (48).
The incident took place on the night of December 16 in Charholi Khurd village in Khed taluka, located around 22 km from Pune city. The headless body of a man, who had died after getting trapped in the rotavator, a piece of farm equipment with rotating blades used for tilling soil for planting seeds, had been found. Early on December 17, officials at Alandi police station were alerted to ‘Thorve’s death’. Thorve’s family members identified the body as their father’s based on the clothes on it.
Officials said that the head of the body was missing and it was thought that it could have been taken away by wild animals in the area.
Meanwhile, Ghenand was reported missing from his home. A resident of nearby Dhanore village, Ghenand was known to Thorve as the latter had hired his services in the past for some agriculture-related jobs, the police said.
Investigating his disappearance, the police came across security camera footage in which Thorve and Ghenand were seen together, a police officer said. This changed the course of the investigation. As police started probing other possibilities, they received information that Thorve was alive and had visited his sister’s house recently.
Analysis of technical leads and clues from the forensic examination revealed that Thorve had murdered Ghenand and had chopped his head with a sharp weapon, an officer said. Thorve put his clothes on Ghenand’s body and mutilated it in the rotavator. He was arrested on Monday night from a place where he was hiding, the police said.
“Our investigation suggests that the accused wanted to elope with a woman and so staged his own death. We have now arrested him on the charges of Ghenand’s murder. He is being produced before a court where his police custody will be sought,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) Vivek Patil said.
The police said that a search has been launched for the murder weapon, and Ghenand’s head and clothes.
