Mumbai: Tenant Beats Landlord to Death with Hammer over Power Bill Payment

Mumbai: A 63-year-old tenant was arrested in Mumbai's Shivaji Nagar for allegedly killing his landlord by striking him to death with a hammer on the payment of an electricity bill, according to media reports. 

The accused tenant has been identified as Shaikh, while the landlord has been identified as Ganpati Jha (49). 

As per the police, the residents of the Baiganwadi locality of Shivaji Nagar detected foul smell in the locality on May 2 and complained to the police.  The landlord Ganpat Jha (49) murder was discovered after the cops forced open the door and discovered his body inside the residence. 

The postmortem report divulged that Jha was beaten to death with a blunt object on his face, post which the police registered a murder case and commenced the investigation. 

Police while recording statements discovered that on April 29, a neighbor had seen Jha fight with his tenant Abdul Subhan Shaikh over payment of electricity bill. 

According to the police, the witness told them that Jha and Shaikh frequently fought over electricity bill payment. On that particular day when Jha started abusing Shaikh for not paying the bill, the latter who had a bamboo stick in his hand went to the mezzanine floor and beat him up. When Jha fought back, Shaikh, who had a hammer in his hand hit Jha on his face, the police told a media outlet. 

Post  the witness' statement, police questioned Shaikh who admitted to have killed Jha in a fit of rage and did not intend to kill him. 

The police registered a murder case on Sunday and arrested Shaikh. He was produced before a local court and was remanded in police custody.

Shaikh stayed with his wife, while, Jha stayed alone, said the police.  Jha's wife had passed away and his two daughters were married and settled in Bihar, as per the police.

The FIR was registered on the basis of the statement of Jha’s cousin brother.