Man kills 14 of family, commits suicide
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, February 28
Mohammad Hasnain Anwar Warekar, a 35-year-old chartered accountant from Thane near Mumbai, murdered his 14 relatives and then committing suicide today. A property dispute is suspected to be the reason for the murders.
The police said Warekar invited his relatives for a get-together. He laced their food with some sedative and after they fell asleep, he slit their throats one by one before hanging himself. The knife allegedly used by him to commit the murders was found lying beside Hasnain’s body. Seven children were among those killed, including Warekar’s six-month-old daughter, the police said.
“We suspect the murders were committed over a property dispute,” Thane police commissioner Parambir Singh said. The incident came to light shortly after 2 am when Warekar’s sister Subhiha Barmar rushed out of the flat at Vadavli village and sought help from neighbours.
Subhiha is struggling for life at a hospital. “Subhiha has told the police they had spent a happy evening at the get-together organised by Hasnain,” said police constable Meera Madhurkar, who spoke to Subhiha.
The police said the dead included Warekar, his father Anwar Ismail Warekar (60), his mother, wife, three sisters and another relative who was visiting them along with seven children. While the youngest child was Subhiha’s three month-old daughter, the oldest was around 16-year-old.
Investigations revealed Warekar was earning around Rs 1 lakh per month as an income tax consultant. His father was the managing trustee of a dargah. Warekar planned the murders carefully and had invited all his relatives for a get-together, the police said. Rizwan, Warekar’s uncle, escaped as he did not attend the get-together. He told the police he found Subhiha crying around 3 am saying her brother had killed the entire family.
