Nagpur: A man initially thought to have been mauled by a tiger earlier this week turned out to have been murdered by his own son to avenge the repeated humiliation of his pregnant wife in Armori taluka of Gadchiroli, said police. There was panic in the village about a maneater on the prowl, before cops busted the lie.Gadchiroli police said, Yogesh Dhakate allegedly wielded an axe to kill his father, Devaji, 65, when he was cycling back home at night from their family-owned brick kiln and then projected the crime as a tiger attack. Police, however, outsmarted him within a few hours to douse tiger panic. Devaji suffered deep stab wounds on the neck, back and head and bled to death near a railway tunnel on the outskirts of Palora village. His bicycle, white scarf and glasses lay nearby, when police reached the spot.Once wracked by Maoist insurgency, Armori on the fringes of protected forests is also a happy hunting ground of leopards and tigers. And Yogesh was quick to project the case as a tiger kill, leaving cops foxed as two women were recently killed by wild animals.It was Devaji’s younger brother, Purushottam, 61, a welding shop owner, who lodged a complaint at Armori police station on April 13. He stated that while having dinner, Yogesh and his mother Kamal rushed to their house and urged his son, Sachin, to search for Devaji, mentioning a call about his death. Purushottam reached the railway tunnel with a friend and found policemen and onlookers inspecting Devaji’s body.A tiger kill could have qualified for compensation from the forest department, as per govt norms. However, the body position and stab wounds on the back indicated assault by a sharp weapon. Further probe revealed involvement of the man’s son and a murder FIR was lodged. “The accused, Yogesh Dhakate, has been arrested. The flat position of the body and cut marks bore enough proof of foul play,” said SP Gadchiroli Neelotpal.
