53-year-old farmer killed in Parner, one held

Nashik: A 42-year-old man has been arrested by the Parner police on the charge of killing his 53-year-old relative -- a farmer in Bhandgaon village of Parner taluka in Ahilyanagar district.The accused has been identified as Mahesh Hanumant Kharmale, a resident of Bhandgaon. The deceased, Sandeep Kharmale, was killed in his house on Friday afternoon. Subsequently, his son, Siddhesh, who lives in Savedi, filed a complaint against an unidentified burglar following which the police registered a case of murder and robbery."Sandeep was alone at home and he spoke with his son over the phone around 12.30am on May 15. Sandeep was supposed to call Siddhesh later to send him a draft regarding a land deal they were negotiating," a police officer said."Later in the day, Siddhesh repeatedly called his father, but the calls went unanswered. He then asked another villager to check on his father, only to be informed that he was lying dead in the house with a serious head injury," the officer added.Inspector Kiran Kabadi of the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of the Ahilyanagar police said that during investigation, they checked the deceased's call logs and found frequent contact between Sandeep and his relative Mahesh.The LCB personnel then tracked Mahesh's location to the road between Bhandgaon and Jamgaon, where he was nabbed along with around Rs10 lakh. "Mahesh has confessed to killing Sandeep for the cash and jewelry. We are investigating the case further," the officer said.