Mumbai: Sanitation worker killed in alleged SGNP boar hunt; body cremated without post-mortem

A 60yearold municipal sanitation worker was killed after being accidentally shot during an alleged illegal wild boar hunt inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP late on Monday night The incident took a further turn when the group allegedly took the victimrsquos body home and cremated it without informing the police or conducting a postmortemThe Kashigaon police have booked seven people arrested two of them and named a doctor as an accused for allegedly issuing a death certificate after examining the deceased over a WhatsApp video call instead of physically examining the bodyThe spot where the alleged shooting occurred at Dabucha Ghat near Chena village in the Yeoor range of Sanjay Gandhi National Park on Monday night PicBy Special ArrangementThe deceased has been identified as Vijay Sukur Sapte a resident of Belkaripada in Chena village near Ghodbunder Road The arrested accused are Mahesh Anant Gaikar 52 and Kathod Labad 55 Two other members of the group Kalpesh Bandu Dagla 25 and Kunal Prabhakar Shelar 31 sustained pellet injuries and are undergoing treatment at a private hospitalMistaken for a wild boar in the beam of a mobile phone flashlight Vijay Sukur Sapte is allegedly hit by pellets fired from a doublebarrelled shotgunSenior Inspector Rahul Kumar Patil of Kashigaon police station confirmed that Gaikar and Labad had been arrested The doctor who allegedly issued the death certificate has also been named as an accused and served a notice to cooperate with the investigation police saidThe mishapAccording to the police complaint the incident occurred at around 930 pm on October 19 at Dabucha Ghat in the Yeoor range of SGNP near Chena A group of seven people allegedly entered the forest to hunt wild boar using firearmsTwo others are injured in the shooting The group allegedly takes Saptersquos body home and cremates it before the police are informedThe complaint states that the group included Gaikar Sapte Saptersquos 21yearold son Rohit Dagla Shelar Labad and Pravin Balu Jadhav While they were dispersed across the forest looking for animals Gaikar allegedly mistook something seen in the light of a mobile phonersquos flashlight for a wild boar and fired his doublebarrelled shotgunThe pellets struck Sapte on the left side of his chest and leg causing him to collapse Dagla sustained pellet injuries near his neck while Shelar was injured in his hand according to the policeForensic experts sift through cremation ashes for pellets as investigators probe possible links to a wider poaching networkThe group allegedly carried Sapte out of the forest and attempted to take him to a hospital However when they reached the Bhaidar Pada area they reportedly realised that his body had become cold and suspected that he had died They then took him back to his home in BelkaripadaThe death certificateThe police complaint alleges that after Sapte was brought home the group contacted Dr Rajesh Pandurang Palande 56 associated with a private hospital in Kashigaon Mira RoadA WhatsApp video call an allegedly issued death certificate and a hurried cremation raise questions as police probe a suspected coverupAround 2 am on October 20 Gaikar who had taken the injured Dagla to the hospital allegedly made a WhatsApp video call to the doctor and showed him Saptersquos body The doctor allegedly asked for the deceasedrsquos Aadhaar card residential address and other documents before issuing a death certificateInvestigators suspect that the certificate was issued without the doctor physically examining the body After receiving the documents the family and other villagers allegedly cremated Sapte at the Chena village crematorium at around 6 amHow case came to lightOn October 20 Assistant Police Inspector Suhas Bhimrao Kamble attached to the Kashigaon police stationrsquos crime detection branch received information from an informant about Saptersquos death and cremation SGNP officials also claim that they received a tipoff from their informers after which they too informed the local police stationThe information was conveyed to Senior Inspector Patil following which a police team forensic personnel and other officials visited the deceasedrsquos residence Saptersquos son allegedly confirmed that his father had suffered gunshot injuries in the forest and had subsequently been crematedDuring questioning Saptersquos wife Jayu Vijay Sapte 55 and his sisterinlaw Sumitra Parashuram Kurade 42 allegedly told investigators that Gaikar had threatened to implicate them and the deceasedrsquos son in a criminal case if they disclosed the incident to the policeForensic searchA forensic team inspected the alleged shooting spot along with SGNP officials and recovered bloodstained leaves small stones pellets a slipper and firearm parts A singlebarrel shotgun was also reportedly recovered around 50 metres from the spotInvestigators also seized material from the deceasedrsquos house including cloth allegedly used to wipe bloodstains from the floor and bloodstained clothing The forensic team is examining the evidence to establish the sequence of events and determine how the shooting occurredOn Wednesday the forensic team was present at the village crematorium searching through the ashes for bullet pellets that may help establish the nature of the injuries and corroborate the account of the shootingThe caseThe police have registered a case under Sections 1061 1181 238 352 and 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 along with Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act 1959 as stated in the complaint The arrested accused have been remanded in police custody till October 24The investigation is examining the alleged illegal hunt the use of firearms and the circumstances in which the victimrsquos body was cremated The police are also investigating the role of the other members of the group and the circumstances surrounding the doctorrsquos alleged issuance of the death certificateldquoThe main accused in the case who is a resident of Wada taluka is absconding and the police are searching for him Those involved in the incident are residents of a tribal hamlet in the Chena area outside SGNP which has witnessed poachingrelated activitiesrdquo the source saidThe source added that the department was investigating whether a larger network was involved and whether the accused had any links to previous poaching incidents reported in SGNP over the past two yearsOver the past two years leopard carcasses have been recovered from wire snares allegedly laid by poachers in the same area The Forest Department is investigating whether those involved in the firing incident have any links to these suspected poaching cases in SGNPLeopardrsquos death raises questionsA radiocollared leopard was found dead in SGNPrsquos Yeoor rangeNagla block in March 2026 triggering an active poaching probe Officials launched a full investigation after spotting suspicious individuals fleeing near the carcass and analysing postmortem findings indicating severe blood loss and neck injuries A source from SGNP said ldquoWe will also investigate if the people involved in the recent case have anything to do with the death of the leopardrdquoInvestigators probing a leopard poaching case earlier this year in the Yeoor range have uncovered evidence of skinning and extraction of teeth and other body parts They are officials are also checking if those arrested in that case have any links with the recently arrested accused