26-year-old, who was beaten up on Sunday, and had '420' engraved on his forehead before being dumped in a nullah, dies. Cops book eight for savage attack; family alleges police negligence
Balkrishna Sonne, the deceased
Eight people have been booked for killing a 26-year-old man in Narpoli, Bhiwandi. The victim, who was brutally beaten up on Sunday night, also had '420' engraved on his forehead with a sharp object, before being dumped in a nearby nullah. He died at KEM Hospital early on Tuesday morning.
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Property row
According to the police, the incident took place over a property dispute. The victim, Balkrishna Sonne, worked as a driver and lived with his parents in Naresh Nagar, Narpoli. The Sonne family owned three blocks in a chawl, which became a hindrance to a recently developed property, located right behind the chawl. The developer Jitendra Tekle had arranged a meeting with the Sonne family and asked them to sell the blocks. But, the family refused.
"After the talks failed, Tekle would indulge in mud-slinging. He even got his goons to attack our family on February 12," said Balkrishna's father Lakshman. "We filed a complaint with the Narpoli police station, but the arrested accused were later granted bail," Lakshman added.
The victim's elder brother, Ganesh, said that Balkrishna had gone to Pune for some work. "We didn't even know when he had returned. On Sunday night, the police told us that my brother had been attacked and dumped in a nullah. We rushed him to Indira Gandhi Hospital, from where we were asked to shift him to KEM," Ganesh added. "Had the police punished the offenders, my brother would have been alive today," he added.
When contacted, SD Jadhav, senior inspector, Narpoli police station confirmed that the family had previously been attacked. "We had arrested the accused in February, but the court granted them bail on a personal bond. But, we tried to solve the matter by arranging a meeting between the two parties," he said.
Jadhav added that all the eight accused have been booked under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon) and 326 (voluntarily causing hurt). The police have so far made two arrests in the case.
Cops demanded Rs 25K
Meanwhile, Balkrishna's family has alleged that the police had demanded money from them to settle the matter. One of the family members, who did not wish to be named, said, "One police inspector and another officer demanded Rs 25,000 from us to settle the issue with the developer. We are so scared that we can't even take their names, because we fear they will attack us, too."
A police officer, on condition of anonymity, said that they were investigating the claims made by the family.
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