Massacre in Malad

With the arrest of five persons in the chilling Kurar quadruple murder case, the investigators were shocked when the accused told them how all the limits of brutality were crossed on the night of June 4.

The arrested told the police that after the four victims were taken to the Appa Pada hills, they grabbed the youngsters as the main accused Uday Pathak slit their throats one-by-one.

Those arrested were identified as Vaibhav Chauhan, 23; Bholu Chaube, 22; Hemant Gupta, 28; Amit Soni, 23; and Rashmikant Khatri, 22; all residents of Kurar area.

According to the police, the arrests were made on receipt of specific information about their hideouts in and around the city. While some were picked up from their relatives’ places, some had taken shelter with friends. The arrests were made from Nalasopara, Borivali and Bhayander, police sources said.

“All the arrested persons have active roles in the murder and were present at the scene of crime,” said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police, crime. “Once the other absconding accused are arrested, they will be confronted. Uday Pathak, the main accused and few others are yet to be arrested.”

Sequence of events:
Explaining the sequence of events, Roy said, on the night of June 4, Pathak and an associate of his were having drinks in one Laxmi Hotel in Kurar area.

“They got into an altercation with two women in the hotel and were passing lewd comments. The women also abused Pathak and later lodged a complaint with the police,” Roy said.

Meanwhile, Chetan Dhule and his friend Bharat Kudalele entered the hotel.

“Pathak, who was still smarting, hurled abuses at Dhule who was staring at him. Pathak also threw a glass towards Dhule, who then retaliated by throwing a bottle at Pathak's direction,” said Roy.

Dhule and Kudale left the hotel and returned with six to seven of their friends and bashed up Pathak.

“Although both Pathak and Dhule were not known to each other, one of Pathak's associate was a Dhule’s classmate and knew him. An enraged Pathak then ordered his men to look out for Dhule and his friends and take them to the woods of Appa Pada area,” he said.

In the meantime, Pathak was summoned by the Kurar police, after a complaint was registered against him by the two women he had abused. He was let off after a warning and paying a fine of Rs1200.

“While Pathak was at the police station, his men first got hold of Dhule, a banjo player. They first went to Dhule's residence and since the latter was not at home, they requested his father to call him home, on the pretext of giving him an orchestra contract. When Dhule came home, he was made to sit in an auto-rickshaw. The accused then made him call his friends and gather near Daftari Road. While Dhule, Ganesh Karanje, Bharat Kudale and Dinesh Ahire were caught by Pathak's men, two of the victims managed to escape,” Roy said.

Massacre at Appa Pada hills:
As per the details gathered from the interrogation of five arrested persons, they took Dhule, Ganesh Karanje, Bharat Kudale and Dinesh Ahire in an auto-rickshaw to Appa Pada and were later joined by Uday Pathak.

“Pathak instructed his men to first stuff the mouths of the four. Their clothes were later removed and were beaten by belts. Pathak then slit their throats one-by-one using a chopper. The motive was that Pathak wanted to spread his terror in the area and wanted to set an example for others,” said an interrogator.

He added that after killing the youngsters Pathak and his men then smashed their faces with huge stones in order to conceal identity. They then walked down the Appa Pada area and went to their respective hideouts.

“As of now, there is nothing that suggests that acid was used by them to burn the bodies. The incident occurred between 11pm and 1am,” said joint commissioner Himanshu Roy.