Gondia police solve murder of 61-year-old in 12 hours, arrest land-deal middleman

The Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Gondia police claims to have solved, within 12 hours, the murder of a 61-year-old man whose body was found in the fields at Bothli, under Amgaon police station limits. According to police, money from a land deal had been lost in intraday trading on the share market. In a dispute over returning that money, the middleman in the deal allegedly killed the elderly man by striking him on the head with a brick. Police have taken the main accused into custody.

The deceased is Chandrashekhar Bhaskar Dahikar, 61, who lived alone in his house in Bothli. In September 2026 he had sold his land in Amgaon. The deal was brokered by Ajay Brahmankar, a resident of the same village. Rs 5 lakh was received as token money, of which Rs 4 lakh was kept in Brahmankar's bank account.

The deal later fell through because the land documents were not in order. The buyer was to be refunded the token money by 12 noon on October 27, 2026. Dahikar therefore asked Ajay to return his Rs 4 lakh. But Ajay had invested the money in intraday trading on the share market and lost all of it, so he had nothing left to give the deceased.

At 11.30 am on October 27, police received information that the body of an unidentified man was lying in the fields at Bothli. On the complaint of Police Patil Shakuntala Pathode, a case was registered at Amgaon police station against an unknown accused under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Given the gravity of the case, a special team was formed under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Gorakh Bhamre and Additional Superintendent of Police Abhay Dongre, led by LCB Police Inspector Revchand Singanjude. On the basis of confidential information and technical analysis gathered during the investigation, police took suspect Ajay Shamrao Brahmankar, 21, a resident of Bothli, into custody. According to police, he confessed to the crime under sustained questioning.

Police said the accused told them that at about 10 pm on October 26, Dahikar was returning home from the direction of the village when he waylaid him on the road. He killed Dahikar by striking him on the head and chest with a brick. He then hid the body in the bushes in front of the house, he told police. Police have handed the accused over to Amgaon police for further legal action.

The operation involved Police Inspector Revchand Singanjude, Assistant Police Inspector Amardeep Khade and Cyber Cell Assistant Police Inspector Devidas Thamke, along with several other LCB officers and staff.