Accident victim's family 'avenge' man's death by killing his doctor after two years

In a "revenge killing," a doctor was shot dead by the relative of an accident victim who died during treatment. Police said the assailant believed the doctor's negligence caused the patient's death two years ago.

The shocking incident happened in the Indian state of Maharastra on Jan.11, reported The Indian Express.

Police said Dr. Hanumant Dharmakare, a medical officer at a government hospital, was shot dead in broad daylight. Though the police immediately formed a squad to investigate the murder, they couldn't prima facie find any motive for Dharmakare's murder.

As the investigation progressed, it soon came to light that a nearby CCTV had captured a speeding motorcycle near Dharmakare's body. "However, the biker was going at such high speed that we could hardly get a good-quality image. He covered a distance of 20 km in 12 minutes," a senior police officer said. The bike reportedly went toward the Dhanki region.

In the absence of further evidence, officers began conducting searches in the houses at Dhanki. The officers then noticed that two men were following them.

"Our team observed that two residents, Sayyad Tousif and Sayyad Mushtaq, would follow police vehicles every time they went out to conduct searches. We suspected something was amiss and detained the duo," said Bhujbal.

Further probe revealed that Tousif had filed a complaint in 2019 against Dharmakare about the death of his 20-year-old nephew Arbaz.

Officers then found that Arbaz met with an accident in 2019 while he was riding a bike. His family rushed him to the local hospital where Dharmakare was the on-duty doctor. However, the man succumbed to his injuries.

The death infuriated Arbaz's family who claimed he died due to negligence on the part of the doctors. They had then entered into an altercation with the doctor, and threatened him that he would have to "pay for his actions."

Further questioning revealed that it was Arbaz's brother Aifaz who allegedly fired at the doctor and fled from the spot on the bike. Sayyad Tousif and Sayyad Mushtaq and two others had arranged a vehicle for him to flee the area after the murder. Aifaz, the main accused, is still absconding.

The family members of the accused reportedly told the police they had felt "the burden of Arbaz's death, which they felt they had to avenge."