Three men were arrested by Panvel taluka police on Thursday for allegedly accidentally shooting one of their family members to death while hunting in a forest on Monday. The accused, which includes the victim’s father, allegedly did not inform the police and burnt the body in the forest, said officers.

According to the police, Vairaj Patil, 27, along with the arrested accused — Bhimrao Patil, 68, his father; Ankush Patil, 34; and Vasudev Patil, 56 — and some other family members and neighbours had gone hunting inside a forest near Panvel on Monday. While hunting, one of the accused accidentally shot at Patil and he died on the spot. “Even though it was an accident, the accused did not try taking Patil to a hospital or informing us. They burnt his body in the forest,” said an officer.

The accused lied to Patil’s wife that he died in an accident and they couldn’t trace his body, said an officer. “Patil’s wife found it suspicious and approached us on Wednesday. We summoned a few members and they confessed during interrogation,” he said, adding they are on the lookout for a few others. The accused were booked for murder and remanded in police custody.

First Published: Apr 12, 2019 03:33 IST