Man murders unmarried sisters, frames relative

NAVI MUMBAI: What was initially believed to be a case of poisoning by a relative turned out to be a well-planned murder by a brother to get rid of his two unmarried sisters. The accused, taking a cue from the film ‘Drishyam’, ‘planted’ an idea in the minds of the investigating officers and his mother that the relative had poisoned their drinking water.

Ganesh Mohite, 36, a clerk with the forest department in Palghar, was fed up of his sisters Sneha, 30, and Sonali, 34, as he had to spend his salary on them. He was also apprehensive that they would stake a claim to the property that belonged to their father.

The strife began in 2009 when Mohite’s father, a forest department officer, died in an accident. A prolonged struggle began on who would claim the job in the father’s place, with the mother backing one of her daughters. After 2019, Mohite managed to convince his family that he would take care of them if he got the job. They finally agreed and by 2021 he joined the forest department.

From 2009 to 2019, Mohite surreptitiously withdrew his father’s pension and transferred his father’s property to himself with the help of a relative living next door in Revdanda, Raigad, the family’s original home. After the sisters discovered this, a physical fight ensued between them and the relative, culminating in an attempt-to-murder case being registered against the relative. It was then that Mohite hit on the idea of framing the relative in the murder he was planning.

The crime happened on October 15 at Revdanda, where Mohite had taken his family for Navratri. “He knew that if he killed his sisters in Palghar, he would be the suspect but in Revdanda, he could plan the murder in such a way that the relative would be the suspect due to their history of dispute,” said police inspector Balasaheb Khade from the local crime branch (LCB), Raigad.

On the day of the crime, Mohite made instant soup for his sisters and spiked it with rat poison. After having the soup, he asked his mother to bring some drinking water which was outside in a container on the verandah. He then left to play garba, although he had never participated in the dance before.

While at the venue, Mohite got a call from Sonali, who told him that she was feeling uneasy. On the pretext of garba, Mohite deliberately reached home late and then took her to Alibag civil hospital, where she died on October 17. By then, Sneha too had developed serious symptoms and was shifted to MGM Hospital in Kamothe, where she died on October 20.

During this period, Mohite brainwashed Sneha, who survived till October 20, and his mother that their relative had spiked the drinking water in the verandah. “As shown in ‘Drishyam’, he kept repeating the same thing to his mother, sister and the police, and eventually everyone believed it,” said Khade. “The mother and Sneha both gave statements against the relative.”

On October 21, the case was transferred to the LCB. “While interrogating the relative, we found that they had installed CCTV cameras outside their house,” said Khade. “We could not see anyone tampering with the water. The CCTV footage and the fact that the mother had faced no issues after drinking the same water made us realise that something was wrong. After investigation, we found out about the fight between the siblings.”

The police then searched Mohite’s phone and found 53 searches from October 11 to 14 on ‘poisoning’, with key words like ‘sweet poison’, ‘smell less poison’ and ‘how many days does it take a person to die after consuming poison’. The police also found rat poison pamphlets in his car.

“The accused was fed up of spending on his sisters who were unwilling to get married. He also did not want to share the property with them and hence murdered them,” said Khade. The accused is in police custody till October 25.