Warekar was in financial crisis, had mortgaged family jewellery, say cops

Mangalore Today News Network

Thane, March 02, 2016: TWO days after 35-year-old Hasnain Warekar killed 14 family members in his Thane bungalow before hanging himself, it has emerged that he was facing a serious financial crisis after having taken loans to start an import business that he subsequently lost control of. Warekar had also mortgaged the family’s gold jewellery, police have found.

The Thane police are checking Warekar’s bank accounts and loan details. However, officers said they found his wife’s body in a semi-clad state near the staircase inside the bungalow, adding they were trying to find out if this was in any way linked to his murder spree.

The apparent financial crunch appears to be the most-likely motive for the killings. An officer said it is now unclear if he even had a regular job for the last three months, though his brothers-in-law and other family members knew that he worked with various firms in the past.

“Some locals have said he was not employed for the last three months. But it’s unclear where he would spend his day after leaving home on the pretext of going to work,” the officer said.

None of the family members knows where Warekar was currently working, beyond believing that he worked somewhere in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai.

Also, Warekar had been trying for several months to establish a business exporting supari to Indonesia, a fact confirmed by brother-in-law Shaukat Khan.

“We have also found that he had taken loan from a bank after mortgaging gold jewellery he took from the house. He had also loaned 10-12 tolas gold from his sister Subiya, the lone survivor of the incident. We are checking if he took loans from his other sisters too,” said a senior IPS officer.

Warekar reportedly took the gold on loan from Subiya after promising to make her a partner in the venture. “We have also been told that he had incurred losses recently in money he invested in the stock market,” the officer said. Police believe that if Warekar was not employed full-time and simultaneously had the loans piling up, he may have been stressed out by that.

Khan had earlier told The Indian Express that Warekar had taken loans from a few people, and upon being unable to repay, had been forced to hand over control of a fledgling venture to a creditor. Simultaneously, the police are checking if his wife Jabeen had an argument with him before the killings.

“It may have nothing to do with the killing but currently as the motive remains vague, we are looking at whether this may be linked to the murders,” a Thane Police officer said.

Police have also contacted mental health professionals to understand whether Warekar may have been suffering from any psychological disorder.

Joint Commissioner of Police Ashutosh Dumbare said, “We are awaiting the forensic science laboratory report. Once that is in, we will be able to say with certainty if the murders were pre-mediated. If there were sedatives mixed in the food, then he certainly had planned the entire thing. If not, it could be a case of something happening in the night that triggered it.”

Dumbare added that investigators are also waiting for Subia to regain her health in order to record a detailed statement.

Police have found that Warekar would spend a lot of time at a particular dargah in Bhandup. “His mobile phone records have revealed that he spent time at a dargah in Bhandup. While there are dargahs near his house we are checking if he knew anyone there in Bhandup.”