The prime suspect, Arif Ali Ansari in police custody. Pics/Hanif Patel

The Special Task Force (STF) of Palghar police arrested Ansari for the murders of Mukund Rathod, 72, his wife Kanchan, 70, and their daughter Sangita, 52, at Neharoli village on August 17. Ansari, who earned only a modest income from carpentry work in the area, had been planning a visit to his hometown of Prayagraj but lacked the necessary funds for the trip.

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Ansari intended to rob his landlord’s house, hoping to steal valuables and cash. “But the Rathod family had little in the way of cash or valuables at home. There were only six silver coins at the house which Ansari stole and later sold for R2,100 in his hometown,” Superintendent of Palghar police, Balasaheb Patil told mid-day.

How they were killed

The police said the family had not conducted any police verification of Ansari before renting the property to him around six to seven months ago so he thought he would get away with murder as there was no record of him. “On August 17, under the pretext of borrowing a hammer for carpentry work, Ansari visited his landlord’s house. At that time, Mukund was not at home so he borrowed the hammer from Sangita. When he went to return it, he struck Sangita on her head as she opened the door. Hearing the commotion, Kanchan, who was asleep, rushed to protect her. But Ansari struck her as well, killing both on the spot,” said an officer.

The house in Neharoli village where the bodies were found

Ansari planned to drag their blood-soaked bodies to a place outside to dispose of them but heard the sound of Mukund’s scooter’s engine. “He hid behind the door and when Mukund entered the house, he struck him on the head using the same hammer,” said the officer. Ansari then shut the main door and began to conceal the bodies and clean the crime scene.

According to the police, Ansari has confessed to the crime. “He told us that after killing Mukund, he dragged his body near the bathroom, wrapped it in bed sheets and covered it with a mattress. He then emptied a large trunk, lifted the bodies of Kanchan and her daughter, and placed them inside. He also stuffed it with clothes before shutting it. Later, he cleaned the blood-stained floor of the house,” an officer said, adding that Ansari searched the house for cash and valuables but only managed to locate the six silver coins, which he decamped with after taking a bath at the house.

“Our investigation is at a nascent stage and we are yet to conclude if his wife was involved in the crime,” said Dattatraya Kindre, officer in charge, Wada police station. The police said that Ansari, his wife and children spent the night of August 17 at his friend’s house in Wada and they left for Prayagraj the next morning. “ This has been captured in CCTV footage,” Kindre told mid-day.

How he was arrested

“On reaching Prayagraj, Ansari left his wife at the village and switched off his cell phone. He changed the SIM card in his handset and would switch on his phone only at night,” said an officer from the cyber cell of Palghar police. “Our STF team nabbed him on Wednesday with the help of local police in Uttar Pradesh. He was brought to Palghar on Thursday and will be produced in court on Friday to seek his police custody,” said SP Patil.

The maggot-infested bodies were discovered on August 30 by Rathod brothers, Suhas and Pankaj. “Ansari must get the death penalty as he has orphaned us. If he needed money, he should have asked me… This monster deserves capital punishment,” said Pankaj, who lives in Virar with his family. Suhas lives in Rajkot, Gujarat, with his family.