Godown owner killed over money dispute in Lohegaon

A dispute over rent and loan repayment led to the alleged murder of a godown owner at the storage facility by his tenant and four of the tenant’s employees.

On October 28, a murder occurred at Pathare Vasti in Lohegaon. The victim’s body and his motorcycle were disposed of by the five suspects in a small quarry within the Lonikand police station jurisdiction.

Laxman Narayan Imanelu (38), the primary suspect, was taken into custody by the Lonikand police on November 4 and Imanelu’s four employees were charged with assault and murder. The suspect had rented the godown from Khandve for the purpose of storing packets of snacks that had fallen into the quarry due to an accident.

According to a police officer, the victim went to the godown to get Imanelu to give him the rent each month. Over it, the two got into a fight. The victim had also given Imanelu and one of his staff a loan, and the victim had instructed them to return the money. During the argument, Imanelu and four other people killed the victim by attacking him with iron pipes.

Afterwards, they loaded up the victim’s motorcycle, body, and other possessions into a tempo and drove it to the quarry for disposal.

On October 29, the victim’s body was discovered by the police, who then distributed his photo to every police station to see if it corresponded with any complaints of missing persons.

Shreyas Vange

(Source – TOI)