Tejas Navale

Pune: Sahakarnagar police have arrested three individuals for the brutal murder of a senior citizen, Sonu Hode, who was fatally stabbed in the neck. The murder was allegedly orchestrated by Hode's neighbour, who suspected the victim of attempting to seize his house through witchcraft and necromancy.

The arrested suspects are Sagar Satish Kumbhar (41), Tauras Balu Karle (43), both residents of Indiranagar, Bibvewadi, and Sagar Shashikant Sonar (32), a resident of More Vasti, Padmavati. Karle works as a conductor with PMP, while Sonar is a driver.

The incident occurred on June 15 around 8 a.m. at the fish market in the Padmavati area. Sonu Hode was attacked and left severely injured on the pavement. A case was immediately registered at Sahakarnagar police station, but initial investigations yielded no suspects as the complainants had no information about the attackers.

While investigating a case, constables Amol Pawar, Kiran Kamble, and Amit Padmale received a tip-off about one of the suspects, Sagar Kumbhar, who was hiding in Indiranagar. The police set up a trap and successfully detained him. During interrogation, Kumbhar confessed to the murder, revealing that Tauras Karle had paid him 50,000 rupees to kill Hode.

Further investigation led the police to Tauras Karle, who disclosed that Sagar Sonar had paid him two lakh rupees to eliminate Hode. Sonar, who lived next to Hode, harboured suspicions that Hode was using witchcraft to take over his house. Convinced of this, Sonar enlisted Karle to arrange the murder, who then hired Kumbhar to carry out the attack.