Maharashtra: Elderly couple stabbed to death in Thane district

THANE: An elderly couple was stabbed to death by unidentified persons in their house on a farm in Ganeshpuri town of Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday.
Jagannath Kalu (Balu) Patil (78) and his wife Satyabhama (70) were found brutally killed at their house in Pendharipada of Akloli on the outskirts of the town in the early hours of the day, an official said.
The killings came to light when the couple's maid arrived for work around 7.30 and when no one answered the door despite repeated knocking, the door was broken down and the duo was found lying in a pool of blood, he said.
According to the police, the murders may have taken place in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Some unidentified persons broke into the house and stabbed the duo several times and killed them, the official said.
An offence under section 302 (murder) of the IPC has been registered with the Ganeshpuri police station, and the bodies have been sent for post-mortem, he said.
The police suspect that property dispute may be the motive behind the killings, as no valuables were stolen from the house, the official said.
As per preliminary reports, the television in the house had been left on throughout the night, and the couple may have been watching TV at the time of murder.
Patil was handicapped and had lost a leg to gangrene, he said, adding that gold ornaments on the deceased woman were intact, while objects had been scattered in the entire house.