Gondia: Elderly man hacked to death on suspicion of witchcraft, four held within 24 hours

An elderly man on his way to a night shift in the Mundipar MIDC area of Gondia was killed with a sharp weapon, police said. The local crime branch cracked the case within 24 hours, and investigation found the killing was carried out on suspicion of witchcraft.

Jitendra Kohale (45) and Kamlesh Ashok Neware (19), both residents of Towertoli, Mundipar, have been taken into custody in connection with the case. Two juveniles in conflict with law have also been detained. The action was taken on Thursday.

Vicky Rabishankar Rahangdale (31), a resident of Mundipar, had filed a complaint at Gangajhari police station. His father Rabishankar (58) was on his way on a two-wheeler to Venkatesh Rice Mill, MIDC Mundipar, for a night shift on Sunday. Between around 7:45 pm and 8:15 pm, near a leather factory, an unidentified person struck him on the head with a sharp weapon, killing him. A case was registered at Gangajhari police station.

Under the supervision of police inspector Rewachand Singanjude, a team from the local crime branch began investigating. During the probe, police found that there was talk in the village that the deceased, Rabishankar, practised witchcraft, and that some people were upset with him over this.

Based on this information, police detained and questioned Kamlesh. During questioning, Kamlesh said he believed that two deaths in his family and repeated illnesses among family members were caused by Rabishankar's witchcraft. The investigation also found that Rabishankar was blamed for deaths and illnesses in other families in the village.

According to police investigation, Kamlesh, Jitendra and the two juveniles in conflict with law conspired to kill Rabishankar on suspicion of witchcraft. On Sunday evening, the accused followed Rabishankar and struck him on the head with an axe, killing him.