Two bodies with heads crushed found in Palghar

A local found the body in the first crime. Representation pic

In a chilling reminder of the stoneman murders by Raman Raghav in the 1960s, the bodies of two men with their heads crushed were found in Palghar district on Thursday. In the first case the body was found when a local saw it in a pit after a few days, in the second, a witness saw two people beat each other up, but by the time he took the police to the spot, one of them was killed. In a strange coincidence, the surname of the victims is the same.

On Thursday, the Arnala coastal police found the body of a man around 30 to 35-years-old in a pit. The autopsy revealed he died due to multiple injuries to his head. The deceased was later identified as Haresh Hadal, 40, from Maharmbpada village, Boisar.

The police found Hadal was a fish cleaner on fishing boats and collected scraps from the waste. Many people did the work together. "Two of them, Terenaam alas Dinesh Malak and Budhya alas Budha Pawar, had disputes with Hadal over the distribution of fish and the scrap money. They killed Hadal and hid the body in a pit on the side of a well and covered it with grass on December 10," said an officer from Arnala police station. A local informed the police when he saw the body. The police arrested both the accused on Thursday night and they confessed to the crime, the officer added.

Friends start a fight

The second incident took place in Dahanu on Thursday night when two close friends started quarreling after drinking. The police said they then started thrashing each other and then one crushed the head of the other with a stone and killed him.

A passerby saw them beating up each other and brought some police personnel along for help; but by then the person was dead. The accused had fled the spot. The police later found the accused identified as Nausha Golem, 35, while the deceased's identity was revealed as Vasant Hadal, 50.

"They were friends and worked as labourers. They left their homes and were living separately. The accused was arrested but he hasn't revealed why he killed Hadal." said Dahanu Sub-Divisional Police Officer Dhanaji Nalavde.