Three murders rock Saurashtra in past 24 hours

Rajkot: Three murders in the past 24 hours have rocked the Saurashtra region.
Mangi Ganpat and her paramour Pappu Bagari allegedly killed her husband Jashwant Kalu (26) with sharp-edged weapons and set his body ablaze at a farm near Bhadiad village of Morbi taluka on Friday night. Then, they eloped.
“Kalu’s body was found on Saturday morning. The crime was committed inside the cabin of the farm owned by Jyotisinh Jadeja. His labourers found the cabin completely gutted in the fire and saw the charred body of Kalu. Jadeja informed us,” said R T Vyas, sub-inspector with Morbi local crime branch.
“We have cordoned off different exit routes, including the bus stand and railway station in Morbi and launched a manhunt for the accused duo,” added Vyas.
The second murder was reported from Bhimraonagar near Aji Dam in Rajkot, where Murari Makwana was stabbed to death allegedly by Isu Makwana alias Dabu, his brothers — Anil Makwana and Praful Makwana alias Bhopo — and their father Bharat Makwana on Saturday.
According to police, the murder was the result of a week old altercation between Murari and Isu, in which Murari resisted a molestation attempt on his 17-year-old sister by Isu, who serves as a traffic warden helper with Rajkot traffic police. Both fought twice on April 20 and Friday.
“Nursing a grudge against Murari, Isu and the co-accused barged into Murari’s room while he was asleep on Saturday afternoon and stabbed him. Murari received 19 stabbing wounds and succumbed to injuries at Rajkot Civil Hospital on Saturday afternoon,” said P N Vaghela, inspector with Aji Dam police station, adding that the accused had absconded after the crime and that a manhunt had been launched for them.
The third case was reported from Tanki Chowk locality of Surendranagar, where vegetable vendor Saddam Ibrahim (25) was stabbed by an unidentified person, believed to be his customer, on Friday morning. “Saddam was taken to VS Hospital in Ahmedabad, where he died on Friday night,” said an official from Surendranagar A-Division police station.