Overview
- Bhavnagar police exhumed three bodies on November 16 from a recently refilled patch beside the Forest Colony quarters in the presence of an executive magistrate and forensic team.
- An FIR names Assistant Conservator of Forests Shailesh Khambhla, 39, who was arrested on November 17 on counts including murder, destruction of evidence, and giving false information.
- Police say Khambhla admitted he smothered his wife Nayana, 42, their 13-year-old daughter, and 9-year-old son on November 5 before burying them in six-foot pits.
- Call-detail records and a junior officer’s statement indicate two pits were dug on November 2 and later refilled after Khambhla claimed a nilgai had fallen in.
- Detectives say the inquiry began with Khambhla’s November 7 missing-persons complaint; postmortems and forensic examinations continue, with a marital dispute cited as the prima facie motive.