Elderly woman murdered at home

NAGPUR: Shashikala Thakre, in her late 60s, was found murdered, with a pair of scissors stabbed in her throat at her Om Nagar apartment on Monday. The murder shockingly took place within 100 metres of the Sakkardara police station in broad daylight.
The latest incident comes within three weeks of the sensational murder of 72-year-old Eknath Nimgade, which has so far remain undetected.
Shashikala, who would stay alone at home between 8am and 4pm, was found lying on her stomach when her grandchildren returned from school. Finding their grandmother lying on floor motionless, blood oozing from her throat, and the room ransacked, the kids raised an alarm.
Their neighbours, Chandekar family which owns a cosmetic shop in the adjacent premises, rushed to help. They were stunned to see the pair of scissors perilously inserted through the neck from which the clotted blood was flowing out. A gold chain, worn by the senior citizen, is missing. The cops are trying to figure out whether some other valuables are missing too.
As the cops from Sakkardara police station arrived at the spot, they immediately started scanning the CCTV footage in nearby shops and buildings. It’s learnt that Shashikala was spotted in the footages till 2.45pm.
Sources claimed that Shashikala was winnowing grains and chatting with neighbours in the afternoon before she went inside. The CCTV footage from the Chandekars’ shop also revealed indistinct images of two men entering the house. Cups and freshly prepared tea found near the body indicated that someone close to the victim may have been present. The ransacked room indicated that there was a scuffle.
Shashikala stayed at the apartment with son Amit, daughter-in-law Shubhangi and grandchildren Arohi, Auchitya and Saarth. While Arohi is daughter to Amit and Shubhangi, both lecturers, Auchitya and Saarth were Amit’s sister Vaishali’s sons. The grandchildren would leave for school in the morning. Amit, head of the department in a college, worked in Wardha district. His wife Shubhangi is a faculty member at an engineering college in city.
There was a construction at the apartment in which two more floors were added and the premises renovated. Two students were living on the second floor on rent. Some labourers, who were engaged in work, are now under scanner. Two labourers, who were engaged to shift the sand when the murder took place, are learnt to be missing now. The cops are quizzing two other labourers.
Expert team from Regional forensic science laboratory and other specialized units like dog squads and fingerprint teams too were summoned at the spot. Apart from Sakkardara police, crime branch too are probing the case.