A 39-year-old man was attacked by his sister, brother-in-law and nephew over a property dispute at a residential society in Thane on Thursday night.
The accused also attacked the man’s wife. While the man died in the attack, his wife suffered injuries and has been admitted to a private hospital.
The accused have been identified as Deepa Thakur, 37, her husband Rajesh Thakur, 37, and son Nikhil Thakur, 19.
The deceased, Nandkumar Thakur, was the brother of Deepa. The two families got into frequent fights after the death of their parents. Nandkumar resided in Mahavir Heights in Kapurbawdi while Deepa and another sister allegedly fought with him over their share in the flat.
Deepa claimed that their father had allotted the flat to their sister who is disabled. However, Nandkumar’s wife, who is also the complainant, did not allow her to stay there and sent her to their village home. Nandkumar allegedly transferred the flat to his wife’s name. The sisters filed a civil suit against him.
Recently, Deepa came to know that their flat was affected by the Metro work in Thane and the residents of Mahavir Heights would be getting an alternate accommodation. Deepa, her husband and son went to Nandkumar’s flat to fight over the same issue. Rajesh, who already had a criminal background, carried a hammer with him.
Uttam Sonawane, senior police inspector, said, “The families started abusing each other, claiming their right over the property. Deepa and Nikhil threw red chilli powder in Nandkumar’s eyes while Rajesh hit him with a hammer. When Nandkumar’s wife and her brother tried to save him, the wife also suffered injuries. The residents had alerted us. The accused had locked the door of the deceased flat from outside so that they couldn’t seek help. So, when they came down, we arrested them.”
The accused have been arrested under IPC Section 302 and have been sent to police custody till July 22.