Fingers chopped, wrist slashed: Father butchered before his children's eyes in Maharashtra

Crime scene

A 40-year-old man was brutally murdered in front of his two young sons in Maharashtra’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city, in a killing police attribute to a past business dispute.

The horrific attack unfolded on Wednesday near the Silk Mill Colony area close to the railway station. Syed Imran Shafiq had taken his three-year-old and 13-year-old sons out when a car intercepted his auto-rickshaw.

According to the NDTV account, five or six men emerged from the vehicle, dragging Shafiq and his children out onto the street. The assailants then launched a savage assault on the father in full view of his terrified children.

The police reported that Shafiq, in a desperate attempt to defend himself, tried to seize the weapons from his attackers, but was overwhelmed. The men proceeded to chop off his fingers and slash his right wrist. They also struck him repeatedly on the head and neck before stabbing him multiple times.

The attackers ultimately left Shafiq’s mutilated body under a foot overbridge, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Acting on the case, police moved swiftly and arrested three suspects within nine hours of the crime. The main accused has been identified as Mujeeb Don, who, authorities said has several previous cases filed against him.

The other two men taken into custody are Mujeeb's brother, Saddam Hussain Moinuddin and his brother-in-law, Sheikh Irfan Sheikh Suleman.