Thane, Sep 17 (PTI) Four persons allegedly thrashed a tribal man to death following an old dispute and dumped the body near the Samruddhi highway in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Wednesday.
The body was found near Ratandhale village along the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Highway on Tuesday morning, they said.
The accused had a dispute with the 47-year-old victim, identified as Ramdas Gorkhane, resident of Pradhanpada village, an official from Shahapur police station said.
After a heated argument, they allegedly kicked Gorkhane and also hit him with sticks. When his nephew tried to intervene, the accused asked him to step aside and forcefully bundled the victim into a jeep and took him away, the official said.
At around 5 am on Tuesday, some passers-by found the body near the highway. The body was later sent to the government-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai for forensic examination, the police said.
Following a complaint by the victim's nephew, the police launched a probe and arrested one of the accused, identified as Sunil Nimse, senior police inspector Mukesh Dhage said, adding efforts were on to trace the others.
A case has been registered against the accused on charges of kidnapping and murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. PTI COR GK
