Mentally disturbed man stabs three neighbours to death in south Mumbai

Representative Image. Pic/iStock

Three persons have succumbed to injuries while another is battling for life after a "mentally challenged" man went on a stabbing spree at a residential building in south Mumbai killing Friday afternoon.

The injured were rushed to a private hospital in Girgaum and civic-run Nair hospital where a couple, Jayendra and Neela Mistry, and one more women died during treatment, PTI reported quoting a police official.

The incident took place around 3.30 pm at Parvati Mansion on Grant Road. The accused has been arrested and he has been identified as Chetan Gala, 54.

The incident, police said, took place in the jurisdiction of DB Marg Police.

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Quoting police officials, PTI reported that the man's wife and children had left him, and he suspected that his neighbours had instigated them.

He had been mentally disturbed ever since, and on Friday, upon spotting his neighbours, he went to his house, picked up a knife and allegedly attacked five persons from neighbouring families.

After the incident, the accused locked himself inside a room in the building. He refused to come out when the police reached the spot, but relented when they threatened to "break the door and hit" him, said an official.

Police took him into custody and also recovered the knife used in the attack. He allegedly admitted to the crime while telling the officials that he was disturbed after his family members abandoned him.

Though visibly mentally disturbed, he was not undergoing any medical treatment, the official said.

A First Information Report (FIR) under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at D B Marg police station and probe is underway, the official added. (With PTI inputs)