A 38-year-old man, Kamlesh Ramshabd Tiwari, was found dead after being lured away under the pretext of settling a long-standing dispute with his neighbour. The gruesome incident occurred near a farmhouse close to the Chandlodia underbridge, raising serious concerns about safety in the locality.
According to a complaint filed by the victim’s wife Pratibha Tiwari, her husband left home on the afternoon of February 18, and never returned. After several hours of anxiety, she lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Sola High Court Police Station, expressing her suspicion about their neighbours, Mahavir Shankarlal Shah and his wife Jagrutiben.
During the course of the investigation, police uncovered that Kamlesh had been forcibly taken in a Kia Seltos vehicle, owned by Atul Ranchodbhai Patel (a friend of Mahavir), to Patel’s farmhouse. There, he was tied to a neem tree and brutally assaulted by multiple accused, including Atul Patel, Rishab Premjibhai Saparia, Sunil Chaturbhai Thakor, and Ghamnara, a labourer working at Atul’s farmhouse. Later Mahavir and Jagruti also arrived at the farmhouse, and they started attacking Tiwari. The fatal attack involved sticks and sharp weapons, leading to Kamlesh’s death.
To conceal their crime, the perpetrators waited until nightfall before burying the body in a ditch on the farmhouse premises. Investigators revealed that the accused also procured 20 kg of salt to fasten the decomposition of the corpse, further pointing towards premeditated intent.
Nine days after the murder, the police exhumed the body based on statements from the suspects. A case has been registered against six individuals, including charges of murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy. Authorities have so far arrested five accused, including the main suspects Mahavir and Jagrutiben, while Ghamnara remains at large after fleeing upon learning of the police investigation.
Investigations have further revealed that the victim and the main accused had been neighbours for over a decade, frequently embroiled in disputes over petty matters such as playing loud music and waste disposal. The long-standing tensions appear to have escalated into this brutal act of violence.