Particle.news
Download on the App Store
6 ARTICLES
·
3d ago

Panvel Hostage Standoff Ends With Family Rescued and Murder-Accused Arrested

Police cite a property dispute as the trigger for the attack.

The accused pressed a sickle to his 16-year old niece’s throat, warning police officers at the door that he would kill her if they entered the flat
Image
The man, Soban Mahato, is an accused in a 2018 murder case and was recently released on bail, officials said.

Overview

  • The 35-year-old, identified as Soban Babulal Mahato, forced into a Mangala Nivas flat around 8:30 pm Wednesday in Old Panvel and confined his relatives inside, police said.
  • He wielded a sickle and an axe, held his 16-year-old niece at knifepoint, and threatened to kill anyone who entered the flat, according to officials.
  • After a little over three hours, a team led by Senior Inspector Nitin Thakare breached the door with fire-brigade support, used chilli spray, and constables Samrat Daki and Sainath Mokal overpowered him, freeing all five hostages unharmed.
  • Four policemen — Ravindra Pardhi, Madhav Shewale, Daki, and Mokal — were injured during the rescue and were treated at the Sub-District Hospital in Panvel.
  • Police seized the axe and sickle for forensic examination and booked Mahato under multiple Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections and the Arms Act; officials noted he was recently released on bail in a 2018 murder case.