Maha Police: 'Mystery deaths' of 5-member family was cold-blooded murder by poison brought from Telangana

Gadchiroli, Oct 18 (IANS) In a shocking revelation, the Gadchiroli Police probing the purported ‘mystery deaths’ of a five-member family have unravelled a sinister murder plot by two close women relatives for vendetta and an old property dispute in the clan, officials said here on Wednesday.

The deaths of different persons from the Kumbhare family were reported in a span of barely three weeks from Mahagao village in Aheri region of the district, according to Superintendent of Police, Neelotpal.

The unexplained serial deaths of so many from a single family had created a wave of fear and suspicions in the village and surrounding areas in September-October, but after a quick bout of investigations, the police nabbed the two accused women on Wednesday.

The pattern was similar -- the family members suddenly fell ill, their condition became critical and though they were rushed to hospitals in Nagpur and other places for treatment, they died during treatment, confounding the medicos.

The first to be affected on September 20 was Shankar P. Kumbhare and his wife Vijaya, who abruptly fell ill and collapsed. They were rushed to an Aheri hospital, then Chandrapur and later even Nagpur for advanced treatment.

However, owing to lack of proper diagnosis of their afflictions, Kumbhare succumbed on September 26 and his wife Vijaya the next day on September 27.

Even as the stunned family was trying to come to grips with the situation, the deceased couple’s daughter, Varsha Udade, staying nearby, another daughter Komal Dahagaonkar, and their brother Roshan Kumbhare, both living in Gadaheri, also were hit by the strange illness.

Despite various types of treatments, there was no improvement and they succumbed in quick succession. Komal Dahagaonkar died on October 8, her sister Varsha Urade passed away on October 14, and their brother Roshan Kumbhare breathed his last on October 15.

Meanwhile, their eldest brother, living in New Delhi, had rushed to Mahagao on hearing of his parents demise, and after the last rites he returned to the capital, where his health was seriously affected, and he was admitted to a Delhi hospital.

Simultaneously, the family’s driver Rakesh Madavi, who had rushed the senior Kumbhare couple to a Chandrapur hospital for treatment, also fell ill and was admitted to a hospital there the following day, where his condition started deteriorating.

A relative from Nagpur who came to pay a condolence visit to the family also reported seriously ill and was rushed to a hospital the next day.

However, after long treatment, the health of all three victims has improved and they are stable, said the police, which was monitoring the entire dance of death in the Kumbhare family.

All the victims had reported identical symptoms -- severe pain in the head and lower back, tingling sensation in the limbs, a heavy tongue and blackened lips, pointing to possibility of poisoning, as per the medicos treating.

However, there was no specific information or evidence available on the likely poison that they may have ingested, puzzling the medicos and the police.

Taking strong cognizance, Neelotpal, along with Additional SP Yatish Deshmukh, Sudarshan Rathod and other officials set up four separate teams to probe the serial family deaths in Mahagao village.

The teams went to various districts of Maharashtra and Telangana and learnt of the direct involvement of two close relatives -- Sanghamitra Kumbhare, the daughter-in-law of the deceased Shankar P. Kumbhare, and his sister-in-law, Rosa Ramteke.

The Gadchiroli Police quietly monitored their activities, gathered sufficient evidence to pounce on them on Wednesday and placed them under arrest, said Neelotpal.

The two women have confessed to the sensational crime for various reasons, including vendetta and property disputes.

Sanghamitra had married the deceased Roshan Kumbhare against her family’s wishes that resulted in her father committing suicide five months ago, and she was allegedly harassed and ill-treated by her in-laws (the targeted Kumbhare family), etc.

On the other hand, Rosa Ramteke had her own separate agenda arising from an ancestral property dispute of four-acre land that led to her poisoning the members of the Kumbhare family, relatives and the driver.

The duo revealed how they had travelled to Telangana last month and obtained a certain type of poison which they had mixed with the food and water of the deceased whenever they got a chance which claimed five from the Kumbhare clan.

While rushing the Kumbhare couple to Chandrapur hospital, the driver Madavi had unwittingly consumed a bottle of the toxic water kept in the car which almost killed him.

Armed with all the evidences, statements of the three survivors and other witnesses, the Gadchiroli Police have registered murder cases against the two women, said Neelotpal.

“We are probing further to find out who supplied them the poison, what kind of a toxin it was, how it was transported from Telangana to Gadchiroli, the involvement of any other persons with the two accused women, etc,” said Neelotpal.