The District and Sessions Court awarded the death penalty to Vivek Palatkar on Saturday for killing five people, who were his close relatives on June 11, 2018.
Palatkar brutally killed his brother-in-law Kamlakar Pawankar (53), his wife Archana (45), their daughter Vedanti (15) Kamlakar’s mother Meerabai and also his (Palatkar’s) son Ganesh using a crowbar. Police believed that the killing was related to a property dispute.
The survivors Palatkar’s elder daughter Vaishnavi and Mitali Pawankar informed the neighbor about the incident. Palatkar killed the five at Kamlakar’s residence in Aradhana Nagar under the jurisdiction of Nandanvan Police Station in Nagpur.
Palatkar, who was accused of killing his wife Savita and burnt her corpse to destroy the evidence in May 2014 was convicted by the Sessions Court, but acquitted by the High Court about a year ago. Kamlakar, a BJP worker had helped Palatkar with the case and had made efforts to rehabilitate him. He was working as a security guard at a private hostel. He had left the job and wanted to begin farming at his native place at Nawangaon in the Nagpur district.
Palatkar was arrested from Ludhiana in Punjab.
Assistant Police Prosecutor Abhay Jichkar and his assistant Adv Mohammad Atiq examined 29 witnesses. The District and Sessions Court Judge R S Pawaskar awarded his death sentence to Vivek Palatkar.