Vivek Palatkar wanted to kill bro-in-law

NAGPUR: Vivek Palatkar, who killed five persons of Pawankar and Palatkar families, including his own son, on June 11, has said he wanted to kill only his brother-in-law. Palatkar was arrested in Ludhiana by crime branch on Wednesday, taken to Delhi by road, and then brought to the city by flight on Friday afternoon. He could be nabbed only because some labourers stole his mobile phone, and used the handset with their SIM card, allowing cops to trace the location.
Palatkar had left for Ludhiana soon after committing the mass murder at Aradhana Nagar. During a press conference on Friday, Jt CP Shivaji Bodkhe said, “The accused wanted to kill only his brother-in-law due to a monetary dispute between them.” However, he had ended up bludgeoning to death his sister Archana Pawankar, her husband Kamlakar, their daughter Vedanti, her grand-mother Mirabai, and Palatkar’s son Krushna.

On June 10, Palatkar went to the Pawankar family’s house at around 9pm. He knocked, but nobody opened the door. However, a neighbour saw Palatkar and called Kamlakar to say his brother-in-law had come. Archana then opened the door, and Palatkar asked his sister to let him spend the night there. He also told her he had already had his dinner, and jut wanted to sleep.

“He had decided to kill Kamlakar Pawankar a month ago, but did not get a chance, so he went to his home,” added Bodkhe.

Palatkar and Mirabai went to sleep in one room while Kamlakar, Archana, Vedanti, and Krushna slept in a row on the bed. The two survivors, Mitali and Vaishnavi, were sleeping at the foot of the same bed.

At around 3am, Palatkar awoke and brought inside the long iron road he had already brought, and kept outside the house. He landed the first blow on Kamlakar, but Vedanti and Krushna, who were sleeping beside him, were also injured by the strike. Archana also woke up, and Palatkar hit her too fearing she will expose him. Mirabai, who was sleeping in another room, too woke up, so Palatkar hit her too.

Palatkar knew he had hit his son too, but continued to repeatedly hammer all the victims. Vaishnavi and Mitali were spared since they were sleeping under a quilt and did not wake up.

After the murders, Palatkar could not open the lock of the front gate to take out his bike, so he climbed over the wall. He went to his rented room at Kharbi Chowk, packed his bag, and went to the railway station in an autorickshaw at around 9am, and boarded a train to Delhi. From there, he took another train to Ludhiana.

Palatkar, who has an ITI diploma, chose to go to Punjab, since he had worked there at Rainbow Jeans Textile for a year in 2009, and was familiar with the area. Meanwhile, city police were still searching for him at nearby places like Bhandara, Tumsar, Umred etc.

After Palatkar reached Ludhiana, he met a local labourer, and asked for help. The labourer kept Palatkar at his room in a slum at Ludhiana for eight to ten days, while he tried to find a job. However, a quarrel broke out between the labourer and Palatkar, when the latter alleged the labourer stole his Rs50,000 and mobile. After this, the labourer shifted Palatkar to another room in the same locality.

Luckily for the cops, the local labourers who had stolen Palatkar’s mobile inserted their SIM card in it and started using it. This allowed city cops to trace Palatkar’s location and arrest him with the help of Ludhiana counterparts.

The accused told cops that when he was working at a salary of Rs6,000 at a restaurant, Kamlakar used to take Rs5,000 to take care of his children. Palatkar also claimed Kamlakar was demanding 2 acres of land owned by him. This is what led Palatkar, who has anger issues, to kill Kamlakar. “There is no remorse on Palatkar’s face,” said Bodkhe.

Cops had also recovered some black magic material from his house at Kharbi Chowk. He claims to have done puja for mental peace.

Crime DCP Sambhaji Kadam and additional CP SR Dighavkar were also present at the press conference.