Nagpur: Bhandara District and Sessions Court on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to seven accused in the sensational triple murder of Soni family members in Tumsar that had rocked Maharashtra back in 2014. The final hearing in the macabre triple murder case in Tumsar Town of Bhandara district was held on Monday in the District Sessions Court, where Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam argued for the government side. The charges against the seven accused have been proved in this murder case, following which the court awarded life imprisonment to them.
In 2014, the Soni Massacre occurred when Sanjay Ranpura (Soni), a prominent bullion merchant of Tumsar in Bhandara district, his wife Poonam, and son Drumil were brutally murdered on February 26, 2014, at midnight. 8.3 kg of gold, 345 grams of silver, and 39 lakh rupees in cash were stolen from his house. After the murder came to light, the police arrested all seven accused within 24 hours. Four of these accused were arrested from Tumsar, two accused from Nagpur, and one accused from Mumbai.
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The daughter of Sanjay Soni, who survived the murder, met Adv. Nikam and demanded strict action against the accused. An 800-page charge sheet was submitted to the court by the Tumsar police investigating the Soni massacre. Apart from this, the police also submitted other reports, including chemical and DNA reports in the court. On the basis of this evidence, the crime against the accused has been proved, and the court awarded life imprisonment to them.
It is pertinent to mention that the Bhandara police had nabbed the driver and his six accomplices for murdering bullion merchant Sanjay Soni, his wife Poonam, and son Drumil at his home in Tumsar before fleeing with valuables worth Rs 5 crores. All the accused have confessed to the crime and revealed the entire modus operandi to the police.
The Nagpur Crime Branch and Tumsar police conducted a joint operation in the Tajbagh area to nab Sohail Khan, a key conspirator. Police said during interrogation, the driver, whom Soni had hired on a daily basis, told them the location of his accomplices. The kingpin, identified as Kesari, had left for Mumbai by plane, and subsequently, the police had nabbed him in Mumbai. Others were taken into custody from Ramtek and Tumsar. Most of the accused are residents of Mata Ward Tumsar.
(Then) SP Kailas Kanse, who investigated the case, said Soni used to frequently visit his customers in Balaghat, Gondia, Amgaon, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Umred, Shivani, Wardha, Badnera, and Amravati. Generally, Soni travelled in his car, and he had a permanent driver. Whenever his regular driver was on leave, Soni would hire another driver on daily wages. The temporary driver had worked with Soni on four-five earlier occasions.
Police said when this driver learnt about Soni’s profession and valuables at home, he contacted his Nagpur-based friend, and they hatched a conspiracy and waited for Soni’s next call. On February 25, Soni called him up and asked him to come the next day since he had to visit Gondia and Amgaon in the morning.
Meanwhile, the driver informed his accomplices about Soni’s business trip. On their way back while leaving Gondia for Tumasar, the driver asked his accomplices to wait at Virsi diversion near Tiroda. His accomplices came to Virsi, purchased a nylon rope and other material and waited for Soni’s car to pass.
Kanse said as soon as the car turned towards Tumsar, the accused started following it on their bikes. The driver stopped the car near village Vihirgaon on the pretext of answering nature’s call and went to a nearby agriculture field.
Amid this, the driver’s accomplices came and entered the car forcibly. They strangled Soni with the nylon rope. Soni died in the car, police said. The dacoits left their bikes near the government hospital and took Soni’s body in the car to the deceased’s home. On hearing the car’s sound, Durmil came down and opened the gate. But the dacoits caught him and took him inside. They told Poonam to bring water as Durmil had become unconscious.
As she went inside, the dacoits followed her. When Poonam came to know about their plan she asked them to spare her and Durmil in return for all valuables. But the driver told his accomplices that she knew him and thus they strangled the mother-son duo with the rope
Later, they kept Soni’s body in his bedroom and looted the valuables from his room before fleeing. They distributed valuables among them and went in different directions.
