Inspiration from 'Drishyam', poisoned soup... How Mumbai-based man planned murder of his 2 sisters

It is somehow true that in India, people live and breathe films.

In yet another shocking incident, a man planned a murder that was inspired by the Bollywood film Drishyam.

The death of two unmarried sisters that police initially believed to be the result of poisoning by a relative was actually the brother’s well-planned cold-blooded murder.

Ganesh Mohite, a clerk in the Palghar forest department, was reportedly fed up with his two sisters and came up with a plan to kill them while pinning the blame on another relative.

Inspired by the crime thriller film, the 36-year-old “planted” in the minds of the investigators and his mother that the relative had tainted their water, which his sisters drank and died from.

The cold-blooded murder

According to Hindustan Times, police inspector Balasaheb Khade from the local crime branch (LCB), Raigad, said Mohite took his family to a Navratri celebration on 15 October knowing that if he murdered his sisters Sneha, 30, and Sonali, 34, in Palghar, he would be the suspect, but in Revdanda, he could blame the murder on a relative and he would be suspected due to their history of conflict.

Mohite prepared an instant soup with rat poison for his sisters on the day of the crime. After having the soup, he asked his mother to get some water, which was outside in a jar on the verandah, and then he went outside to play Garba, even though he had never before taken part in the dance.

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Sonali called him shortly after to let him know she was feeling uneasy. She passed away on 17 October at Alibag Civil Hospital after Mohite deliberately reached home late under the guise of the Garba.

The second sister, Sneha, had also begun to experience significant symptoms and was sent to MGM Hospital in Kamothe, where she passed away on 20 October.

Mohite brainwashed Sneha, who survived until Friday, and his mother that their relative, with whom they had a brawl previously over a property, had contaminated the water for drinking in the verandah.

“As shown in Drishyam, he kept repeating the same thing to his mother, sister and the police, and eventually everyone believed it. The mother and Sneha both gave statements against the relative,” Khade told HT.

The truth comes out

Following the transfer of the case to the LCB on 21 October, the police discovered that the relative had installed CCTV cameras outside their home while questioning them.

HT quoted the IO as saying, “We could not see anyone tampering with the water. The CCTV footage and the fact that the mother had faced no issues after drinking the same water made us realise that something was wrong. After investigation, we found out about the fight between the siblings."

When Mohite was identified as a potential suspect, the police checked his phone and discovered 53 “poisoning”-related search terms from 11 October to 14 October, including “sweet poison,” “sweet less poison,” and “how many days does it take a person to die after consuming poison.”

The police found leaflets about rat poison in his car.

The reason behind the murder

The discord between the siblings began in 2009 when Mohite’s father, who was a forest department officer, died in an accident.

There was a lengthy dispute over who would take the father’s place at work, with the mother supporting one of her daughters.

After 2019, Mohite was able to persuade his family that if he got the job, he would take care of them. He was hired as a clerk in the Forest Department by 2021 after the family gave their approval.

With the assistance of a relative residing next door in Raigad’s Revdanda, the family’s original residence, Mohite covertly obtained his father’s pension from 2009 to 2019 and secretly transferred his father’s property to himself.

The sisters and the relative got into a physical fight after they discovered this, and as a result, a case of attempted murder was filed against the relative.

“The accused was fed up of spending on his sisters who were unwilling to get married. He also did not want to share the property with them and hence murdered them,” Khade told HT.

Until 25 October, the accused is held in police custody.

With inputs from agencies