US-Returned Indian Techie Stabs Mother 17 Times

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SURAT – Way back in 1970s, this huge tract of land dotting Daman’s coast was used by Lallu Jogi Patel, a trusted lieutenant of smuggler Haji Mastan, to unload ships filled with prohibited goods.

On Thursday, the past caught up with Patel, 90, as the same land turned into a grave for Patel’s septuagenarian wife, Champaben.

His 35-year-old son Sandeep stabbed the woman in the stomach, chest and neck over a dispute for money earned by selling the 200-acre stretch a few months ago.

Champaben’s body was found with 17 stab wounds at her residence in Marvad area of Nani Daman on Friday morning. During questioning, Sandeep, a software engineer who recently returned from the US, confessed to the crime. He told cops that he wanted all the money from the land sale.

The body was first spotted by a domestic help, who rushed to the third floor of the house where Sandeep stays – Lallu Jogi was on the first floor, where he has been bed-ridden for the past few months. Police found blood stains in different parts of the house. They also found Sandeep’s behaviour suspicious. Later, his blood-stained clothes were recovered from the house.

Sandeep’s elder brother Dilip, 45, had committed suicide. Apart from the two sons, Lallu Jogi has five daughters. Sandeep married a Gujarati girl based in the US, originally from Navsari. The couple separated after few years.

An unemployed Sandeep used to ask for pocket money regularly from his parents. “He wanted to live a lavish life for which he committed the crime,” said Kapoor Singh, chief of police, Daman. Sources close to the family also said Champaben did not return Sandeep’s passport. A local court has sent him to 14 days of police custody for further interrogation.