A 60-year-old man died after being hit by pellets allegedly fired during a hunting trip in the Chenagaon forest area of Sanjay Gandhi National Park near Mira Road, according to a police press release. Kashigaon police have arrested two of the seven people named in the case and are investigating both the shooting and the alleged cremation of the victim’s body.
The deceased has been identified as Vijay Sapte, a resident of Velkari Pada in Chenagaon. Police said they received information at about 10 am on October 20 that Sapte had been shot during a hunting expedition in the forest and that his body had subsequently been cremated at the Chenagaon crematorium.
According to the police investigation, seven people had entered the Chenagaon forest near Debucha Ghat to hunt wild animals. Police said Mahesh Anant Gaykar, 52, was carrying a double-barrel gun loaded with pellets, while two others allegedly had muzzle-loading firearms.
The incident is alleged to have taken place at about 9 pm. Police said a mobile phone light appeared from the direction of a person standing ahead. Gaykar allegedly mistook the light for the eyes of a wild animal and fired in that direction. The pellets struck Sapte in the chest. Two other people were also reportedly seriously injured.
The injured were brought down from the forest to Belkadi Pada in Chenagaon. Sapte died while he was being taken for hospital treatment, police said. The case has raised questions about alleged hunting inside the protected forest landscape and the steps taken after the shooting.
Police also said that Dr Rajesh Pandurang Palande, 56, of Aashish Hospital, examined the body through a WhatsApp video call and issued documents confirming the person’s death. Sapte’s son Rohit Sapte and others have been accused of taking the body to the Chenagaon crematorium and cremating it. The police investigation is examining the circumstances surrounding the death, the firing and the cremation.
Seven people have been named in the case: Gaykar; Rohit Vijay Sapte, 21; Kalpesh Bandu Dagla, 25; Kunal Prabhakar Shelar, 31; Kathod Bistur Labad, 55; Pravin Balu Jadhav, 55; and Dr Palande. The names and ages are based on the police details reported by Navbharat Times – Mumbai.
Police have arrested Gaykar and Labad. Legal proceedings and investigation concerning the remaining named individuals are continuing. The action was carried out under the supervision of Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik, Additional Commissioner Sanjay Shintre, Deputy Commissioner Rahul Chavan and the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mira Road.
Kashigaon police are continuing to investigate the fatal shooting, the alleged hunting activity and the circumstances in which Sapte’s body was cremated.
