Maha mass-poisoning: Accused's ex-flame procured rare poison from Mumbai, nabbed

Quaid Najmi
Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Oct 27 (IANS) In a fresh twist to the sensational mass-poisoning of a five-member family from Mahagaon, the Gadchiroli police have learned that a former alleged boyfriend of one of the two accused women helped her procure a rare poison from Mumbai which she used to killer her relatives, officials said on Friday.

The man, identified as Avinash Tajne, aged around 30, made the payment to a firm from where the lethal material – the name of which has not been disclosed - was obtained. He was arrested from Buldhana late on Thursday, and remanded to police custody for four days till Monday, said an official.

The Gadchiroli police cracked the sensational case of the mystery deaths of five persons of a single family by arresting two close women relatives who executed the gory cold-blooded crimes for vendetta and a property dispute - as IANS had reported on Oct. 18.

The deceased family members were: Shankar P. Kumbhare (died September 26), his wife Vijaya S. Kumbhare, (death September 27), their son Roshan S. Kumbhare (passed away on October 15), the couple’s two daughters - Komal Dahagaonkar (died October 8) and Varsha Urade (death October 14).

Two others – another son from New Delhi and family driver Rakesh Madavi luckily survived the poisonous ordeal, and lived to tell the tale to the investigating teams.

Shaken by the multiple deaths in barely a fortnight, Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Neelotpal sent up special investigation squads to probe the matter and cracked the case within 48 hours, nabbing the accused women duo. They were: Sanghamitra Roshan Kumbhare, daughter-in-law of the deceased Shankar Kumbhare, and his brother-in-law’s wife, Rosa Pramod Ramteke, who were arrested and confessed to the ghastly crimes.

An investigating officer said that earlier, the two accused had cited that they had arranged for the poison from Telangana, but after their custodial interrogation, they revealed more shocking details.

"Sanghamitra was allegedly friendly with the accused Tajne and they were acquainted with each other since their school days. However, owing to certain circumstances, she was compelled to marry Roshan Kumbhare. This had strained relations between Sanghamitra and Tajne," the officer told IANS.

Some time back, Sanghamitra had gone to her parents' village in Akola where she again came in contact with her ex-flame and their relationship was re-ignited. She confided about her unhappy marriage, the tortures she allegedly faced and even revealed her diabolical plans to bump off her entire in-laws’ family for which she sought Tajne’s help, and he reportedly agreed.

During sustained interrogation, the two accused women also spilled the beans that the poison from Telangana was not suited for their plans as it changed the taste and colour after mixed with food or liquids, so they decided to get another variety from Mumbai, with assistance from Tajne.

The investigators guided by the top officers like Neelotpal, Yatish Deshmukh, Kumar Chintha, and the teams of Sudarshan Rathod, Ulhas Bhusari, Manoj Kalbade, Rahul Awhad, Balaji Sonawane and others are probing further to unravel more tentacles in the shocking crime. Incidentally, the deaths in quick succession of the Kumbhare clan had created an atmosphere of terror with people suspecting the involvement of ‘evil spirits’ or ‘ghost attacks’, and the locals rushed indoors after sunset, but now the villagers’ anxiety has evaporated. The accused women have been sent to police custody for 10 days and further investigations are underway, said the officer.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at [email protected])