Thane massacre accused Hasnain Warekar, who mercilessly butchered 14 members of his family before ending his life, had heavily borrowed money from his relatives and was steeped in a huge debt of Rs 67 lakh, investigators probing the mass murder said on Saturday.
According to a senior police officer of the Thane police, Hasnain had borrowed around Rs 67 lakh from his close kin on various occasions under the pretext of doing business.
He was also into share trading and police is probing whether he suffered any losses in it, he said. In addition, police have also learnt that he had taken a room on rent in the nearby Majiwada locality a few months before the killings but the purpose for which he made he move is a matter of investigation, the officer said on condition of anonymity.
Also, forensic reports are awaited only after which several details in the case can be confirmed, he said. Earlier this week, during searches at his house, certain medicines pointing to psychological symptoms/illness were recovered, which the police said is likely to give some leads into Hasnain's state of mind before the macabre killings.
Besides, the police is also trying to locate the pharmacist from where the medicines were procured and the doctor who prescribed them. Investigators are also burning midnight oil to explore the possibility of Hasnain suffering from a "split personality" disorder that might have drove him to slaughter his family.
Earlier, a senior police officer, who is a member of the probe team, had said that they are trying to put together all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle to figure out the behavioural pattern of the 35-year-old accused with the help of several mental health experts and criminologists to arrive at a conclusion as to what led him to execute the mass murders and whether he was a victim of spilt or multiple personality.
In the last couple of days, the police team has been recording statements of Hasnain's relatives and friends besides the caretaker of the Pardesi Baba Darghah which he used to visit often.
The police are also probing into the black magic angle to ascertain whether he was influenced by any such practice or followed any self-styled godman.
Among those murdered were Hasnain's parents, wife, sisters and children. On February 28, the accused slit their throats with a knife after offering them drinks laced with sedatives at the family house in Kasarvadawali area on Thane outskirts, and then committed suicide by hanging himself.
Only his sister Subiya, 22, survived the murderous attack to recount the horror that befell the family. According to police, Hasnain, a commerce graduate, used to prepare Income Tax-related documents with a CA firm in Navi Mumbai and did not have any permanent job.
Image: Cops inspect the house where a 35-year-old man allegedly killed 14 of his family members and then committed suicide in the Kasarwadavli area in Thane, Maharashtra, on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo.
