Palanpur: The 20-year-old youth arrested for allegedly strangling his eight-year-old neighbour in Sabarkantha’s Samlapur village has confessed to killing the boy’s 12-year-old elder brother a year ago, allegedly by pushing him into a check dam, police said on Thursday.The accused, Savanji Thakor, was arrested on August 24 after Idar police began investigating a missing-person complaint filed by Arvind Thakor, father of eight-year-old Keval. During the investigation, Savanji allegedly led police to a well on the outskirts of the village, where he had dumped Keval’s body after strangling him.During interrogation, Savanji reportedly confessed that he had also killed Keval’s elder brother, Amit, 12, a year ago by pushing him into a check dam. “An accidental death case had been registered at the time and the investigation was underway. During interrogation in the Keval murder case, Savan confessed to killing Amit. We have now registered a separate murder case,” Smit Gohil, deputy superintendent of police, Himmatnagar, told reporters on Thursday.The two families have been involved in a long-standing dispute over a plot of land. According to Gohil, Savanji’s family had also been facing financial and other hardships, including the death of his mother. “Savan had developed a belief that Arvind had used black magic against his family over the land dispute. Driven by this belief and a desire for revenge, he allegedly killed both of Arvind’s sons within a year,” Gohil said.
