Gondia: A 21-year-old property broker allegedly killed a 61-year-old man in Bothli village under the jurisdiction of Amgaon police station in Gondia district after losing money from a land deal in intraday stock trading, police said.
The accused, identified as Ajay Shamrao Brahmankar, allegedly attacked Chandrashekhar Bhaskar Dahikar, known as Guruji, with a brick to avoid returning ₹4 lakh involved in a failed land transaction. He then hid the body in bushes, but the Gondia Local Crime Branch (LCB) solved the case within 12 hours using technical investigation and informant networks and arrested him.
Token money lost in stock market
According to the police investigation, Dahikar lived alone. In September 2026, he appointed Brahmankar, a property broker from the same village, as an intermediary to sell his land. The buyer paid ₹5 lakh as token money, of which ₹4 lakh was deposited in Brahmankar’s bank account in trust.
The sale could not be registered because of irregularities in the land documents, and the deal with the buyer fell through. Under the agreed terms, the money had to be returned to the buyer by noon on October 27. Dahikar had been repeatedly asking Brahmankar to return his ₹4 lakh.
Meanwhile, Brahmankar allegedly used the money for intraday trading in the stock market and lost around ₹3.5 lakh. With the deadline approaching and his bank account empty, he allegedly plotted to eliminate Dahikar to escape the pressure.
Man ambushed on way home
At around 10 p.m. on October 26, when Dahikar was walking home from the village, Brahmankar allegedly lay in wait near his house. As the elderly man approached, the accused allegedly picked up a heavy brick and repeatedly struck him on the head and chest. Dahikar died at the scene.
After the attack, Brahmankar allegedly dragged the body and left it in bushes in front of the house before fleeing.
Body found in bushes, accused arrested within 12 hours
At around 11:30 a.m. on October 27, panic spread in the area after the bloodstained body was found among bushes in a field in Bothli. On the complaint of Shakuntala Pathode, the police patil of Jawari village, Amgaon police registered a murder case under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
In view of the seriousness of the crime, Superintendent of Police Gorakh Bhamre and Additional Superintendent of Police Abhay Dongre immediately assigned the Local Crime Branch to the investigation. A team led by LCB Police Inspector Revchand Singanjude examined the accused’s village contacts and financial transactions. Within hours, suspicion focused on Ajay.
After being taken into custody and questioned, he allegedly confessed to the crime and narrated the sequence of events, police said.
More than 20 personnel from the crime branch and cyber cell played a key role in solving the case within 12 hours. Those involved included LCB Police Inspector Revchand Singanjude, API Amardeep Khade, ASI Raju Mishra and Cyber Cell API Devidas Thamke.
