Maharashtra: Probe rules out suicide, 9 members of Sangli family were poisoned to death; two held

KOLHAPUR: The nine members of the Vhanmore family in Maharashtra's Sangli district were murdered by administering poisonous substances either through food or liquid, a revelation by Sangli police made on Monday.

Two persons — Mohammad Ali Bagwan (48) and Dhiraj Chandrakant Suravase (39), — both from Solapur city have been arrested.
The police claim that they are involved in tantra-mantra and promise people to find hidden treasure.
On June 20, the nine bodies of the family of two brothers - Popat and Manik Yallapa Vhanmore were recovered from the two houses, located half-a-kilometre apart from each other. The family included the brothers, their mother, wives and children. Popat was a teacher and Manik was a veterinary doctor.
Dikshitkumar Gedam, district superintendent of police speaking to TOI said, "We have arrested two persons. They are not relatives. We are checking their background. They used to visit the family to guide them relating to hidden treasure. On June 19, they visited the family members. They administered poison through food or liquid substance. We have invoked section 302 of IPC. They will be produced before the court on Tuesday."
The two notes were recovered from both brothers whose bodies were found in their respective houses. The notes revealed 25 names. As many as 19 people have already been arrested and are under police custody. The notes had the names of the accused and also mention of the loan they had taken from private money lenders.
Earlier it was told that they committed suicide after they couldn't face the humiliation from the private money lenders in public.
However, the investigation course changed after the police found that on June 19, both brothers bought 20 coconuts from a retailer which led to the suspicion of some 'mantrik-tantrik' angle.
The amount of loan taken by the brothers was to pay the tantrik who would find the hidden treasure for them. Gedam, however, said that the hidden treasure angle is there, but the amount of money and purpose will be revealed in the investigation.
According to the investigation, the Vhanmore family took loans of over Rs 1 crore from a private money lender to pay to the mantrik.
The brothers were demanding money back as no hidden treasure was found. The brothers have threatened to approach the police. The mantrik felt that if the brothers go to the police then their whole business will shut down and therefore decided to get rid of them.
The mantrik told the brothers that the last ritual would be performed for which the coconuts were bought. The poison was given through the Prasad offered to the family members.