'Robbers' hack Ambernath family to death

In a shocking incident, unidentified people hacked an entire family to death late on Thursday night. The Hill Line police suspect robbery to be the motive behind the killings.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Shankar Bhandari (60), his wife Fashibai (45) and son Sunny (22). They were found dead inside their residence in Ambernath's Karavale village. The victims had several injury marks on their body, while the house was found to have been ransacked with valuables stolen. The police suspect that the family members had initially put up a fight against the murderers, but were eventually killed brutally with sharp weapons, including an axe.

"Realising that something was amiss, the locals tried to enter the house and when they found the bodies in the hall, they reported the incident to us," said a Hill Line police officer.

"Prima facie, we suspect that robbery was the motive behind the killings as the house was ransacked and valuables were stolen. The suspects had conducted a recce and knew about the family members," the officer added.

"We have registered a case of murder, robbery and house trespassing under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons. We are checking the CCTV camera footage of the locality," said Sukhada Narkar, PRO, Thane police department.

"Teams have been formed to trace the accused and we will soon nab them," Narkar added.