“The body was totally decomposed. There was some flesh on its bones but on the basis of its clothes and a gold ring, we identified it,” said Deva. “The cops asked me whether my father had old enemies or disputes with anyone over money or property. I told them he had lent R16 lakh to Ramesh More, a friend of his, in December 2021 but the latter didn’t return it. They would fight over this on the phone,” he added.

Balu Patil, who was made to appear as a road accident victim

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Gopal’s family told the cops that, two days after the patriarch went missing, they contacted More and the latter told the family not to worry as his friend must have gone to Aurangabad on some business. After a few days, he even gave Rs 50,000 cash to the family. They called him when the body was found, he listened to them but then his phone was switched off.

“We decided to file a murder case against More, Farde and others,” said Inspector Rajkumar Upase, in-charge of Shahapur police station. “Farde was the first to be arrested, by the local crime branch. His brother Jayesh, Narayan Bhoir and Somnath Jadhav were nabbed by us later,” he added.

During interrogation, the accused said that More called Gopal on June 3, claiming he would pay some of his dues in person. He was taken to Shahapur in an autorickshaw. Sometime after they drank alcohol in the stationary vehicle, Ramesh grabbed hold of Gopal’s hand and put it inside a jar containing a snake. Though Naidu got bitten, he didn’t seem to be affected. Scared, More slit his throat and dumped the body on Farde’s farm after informing him.

“The other accused told us that More had bought the snake from Ganesh Khandagle, a snake handler, for Rs 5,000, claiming he had a rat problem. When Ganesh was arrested and taken into custody, he revealed that he had sold More another snake a couple of days later,” said Inspector Upase.

The Shahapur cops then got the accused to reveal the name of the second victim, Balu Patil. They began to examine every murder or accidental death case registered in the past month across the commissionerate. “We came across a hit-and-run case in Padgha police station in which a 71-year-old person named Balu Patil was found dead at Kandali village. A team rushed to the police station, took down the details of the family and went to the deceased’s home.

‘Shocked...’

“My father had gone out around 7.30 am on June 7 but did not return,” said Rakesh, Balu’s youngest son. He added, “After retiring, my father became a matchmaker and would stay out for a day, sometimes even for a couple of days. But this time, he didn’t mention any such work. Nobody had a clue about his whereabouts.” 

On June 8, the Padgha cops called Rakesh’s uncle and told him Balu met with an accident at Kandali, around 15 km away from his residence. The family was shocked to see Balu’s body. There was blood on his nose and mouth while his left hand and right leg were injured. “I was certain he didn’t die in a road accident. There were no grave injuries. And why would he venture out so far without informing us,” said Rakesh.

The Shahapur cops eventually found More and his associates had borrowed R25 lakh from Balu on the pretext of providing jobs to the latter’s relatives. When the senior citizen started asking for his money back, More decided to kill him. He plied him with alcohol in an autorickshaw on June 7 and, after the liquor took effect, More then repeated what he had done a few days earlier. Balu died within a few minutes. The accused then dumped the body on the road and fled. Upase told mid-day, “The investigation reveals both murders were planned by More, who is absconding. Others helped him dispose of the bodies.”