Five deaths in family in 20 days, 2 women members arrested for poisoning them

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Oct 19, 2023: Five members of a family in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli died within a span of 20 days under mysterious circumstances. Investigations revealed an elaborate murder conspiracy by two women from the same family who were arrested on Wednesday.

While one of the accused, Sanghamitra, was upset with her husband and in-laws, the other, Rosa, was unhappy due to a property dispute, police said.

The two used arsenic - a colourless, odourless and tasteless heavy metal - to poison the family members.

On September 20, Shankar Kumbhare and his wife, Vijaya, showed symptoms of food poisoning. Their health deteriorated rapidly, with the couple experiencing body pain and later developing cardiac issues due to slow poisoning. They were first taken to a local hospital in Aheri, then shifted to Chandrapur before finally being moved to a hospital in Nagpur. Shankar Kumbhare died on September 26. His wife died a day later.

While the family was still grieving, their children - daughters Komal Dahagaokar and Ananda and son Roshan Kumbhare - were also hospitalised.

Their condition worsened with each passing day. Komal died on October 8, Ananda on October 14 and Roshan Kumbhare died the day after.

OTHERS FELL ILL

Upon hearing about the deaths of his family members, Shankar Kumbhare’s eldest son, Sagar Kumbhare, rushed to Chandrapur from Delhi. However, he too took ill after returning home.

The Kumbhares’ driver, Rakesh Madavi, who drove Shankar and Vijaya to Chandrapur for treatment, was also taken to a hospital after his health worsened.

A relative who was visiting Chandrapur and Nagpur to help the family also fell sick and needed treatment.

The medical officer said that all three were in a stable condition.

ARSENIC POISONING

The five family members who died and the three who are being treated in hospitals showed similar symptoms, such as tingling in the limbs, severe pain in the lower back, headache, blackened lips, and a heavy tongue.

The medical officer initially suspected that the victims and those sick had been poisoned.

Four teams were formed immediately to conduct inquiries in various districts of Maharashtra and Telangana.

Later, the two women - Sanghamitra and Rosa - were arrested.

"During the investigation, we kept a close eye on Sanghamitra, who was Shankar Kumbhare’s daughter-in-law and Roshan Kumbhare’s wife. Sanghamitra had married Roshan against her parents’ wishes. A few months back, her father died by suicide and since then, she was upset. Further, her husband and her in-laws subjected her to frequent taunts and this was the reason she wanted to get rid of them," said Superintendent of Police Neelotpal.

"Rosa Ramteke was Vijaya Kumbhare’s sister-in-law. She stayed in a house nearby. She had disagreements over the sharing of the ancestral property of her husband’s parents with Shankar Kumbhare’s wife and her sisters," the official added.

Sanghamitra and Rosa joined hands and conspired to kill the family members. They initially researched online regarding poisons which could be used to kill family members.

Rosa Ramteke travelled to Telangana and obtained the poison which could not be detected if it was mixed with water or food. In fact, Shankar Kumbhare and his wife drank poisoned water from a bottle while they were being taken to a hospital in Chandrapur; Rosa told them that it contained herbs.

The Kumbhares’ driver also drank the same water and fell sick.

Courtesy: India Today