NAGPUR: A 21-year-old third-year engineering student, Utkarsh Dakhole, throttled his mother to death, waited with the body for around 2 hours, and then fatally stabbed his father when he returned to their New Khasala residence near Kamptee Road, on December 26.
He was apparently angry over being told to shift to ITI after he failed his physics paper thrice.
Utkarsh lied to his sister about their parents going on a meditation trip to Bengaluru, and kept her away from home at a relative’s house, till the smell from the decomposing bodies led to the discovery of the gruesome crime on Wednesday. Utkarsh had also penned a fake suicide note, and saved a screenshot of it as a wallpaper, on his father’s cellphone.
The New Khasala area woke up on the first day of the new year to the news of the double murder of the Dakhole couple by their son. Sources said Utkarsh’s father, Leeladhar, an employee with Koradi thermal power station, slapped him on December 25, asking him to give up engineering and shift to their native place at Bailwada. Leeladhar had also told Utkarsh to take admission in ITI, and take up farming on their ancestral agricultural land, as he had failed in physics paper for the last three years.
Utkarsh’s mother, Aruna, a teacher, too had relentlessly urged him to discontinue engineering. This had angered Utkarsh, who was the younger of two siblings. On December 26, Utkarsh’s father had gone to attend some last rites, and his sister had gone to her college. Utkarsh first throttled his mother to death and left her body on the bed in the bedroom of the one-storeyed house.
After murder, Utkarsh typed suicide note on dad’s phone to dodge cops
Utkarsh Dakhole (21) allegedly killed his parents at their New Khasala residence near Kamptee Road, on December 26. The crime reportedly stemmed from Utkarsh’s anger after being told to shift to ITI following his failure in the physics paper for the third time in engineering.
Utkarsh first throttled his mother, Aruna, to death and left her body on the bed in the bedroom. When his father, Leeladhar, returned home two hours later, Utkarsh attacked him from behind as he tried to enter the bathroom. Utkarsh stabbed him with a knife he purchased from Kamal Chowk.
Police sources said Leeladhar, even after being stabbed, tried to calm his son down and sort out the matter. A profusely bleeding Leeladhar told Utkarsh to call his mother Aruna, so the three could sit together and discuss a solution. Utkarsh then allegedly revealed that he had murdered his mother.
When Utkarsh asked whether his injured father still wanted him to withdraw from engineering college, Leeladhar apparently said he would still insist he discontinue. This was the point where Utkarsh pinned him down and stabbed him repeatedly until he fell motionless. After the murder, Utkarsh typed a suicide note on his father’s cellphone and saved it as wallpaper.
Utkarsh then called up his sister and picked her up at Automotive Square while on way back from her college. He told her that their parents had left for Bengaluru for a 10-day meditation camp as they got a good package deal.
The brother and sister duo then went to their kin’s residence at Bailwada. Utkarsh’s sister tried calling their father, but his cellphone was switched off, which Utkarsh explained was because of the ban on mobiles at the meditation camp.
On Thursday, Utkarsh got a call from the neighbours complaining of a strong stench from their house, which was locked from inside. The neighbours forced the door open after Utkarsh reached the place. The drawing room was found locked from outside.
The neighbours were stunned to find Leeladhar dead in the drawing room, and Aruna in the bedroom. The cops were alerted. Kapil Nagar police station in-charge Mahesh Andhale and Zonal DCP Niketan Kadam too reached the place.
A cop said, “Utkarsh had switched off the timeline and location of his father’s mobile phone and taken it with him. He placed the cellphone somewhere in the room on returning with the neighbours, and told them he just found it. Police were intrigued why the location service was turned off. Also, the drawing room was locked from outside. Hence, it could not have been a case of suicide. Utkarsh spilled the beans in just one hour when police grilled him.”
Sources said Utkarsh tried to mislead the cops but could not explain many things, including his father’s cellphone with the location turned off, and his lies about their whereabouts to his sister.
