Mistaken for 'wild animal', man shot dead by friends during hunting, 6 detained

Palghar: A hunting expedition by a group of villagers went fatally wrong as one of them was shot dead by some other members, who allegedly mistook him for a wild boar in a forest area in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Wednesday.

One person was injured in the incident that took place in the night of January 28, they said, adding that at least six men have been detained in this connection.

Palghar's Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Abhijit Dharashivkar said the group of villagers had ventured into Borsheti forest area at Manor in the district for hunting of wild boars.

"During the expedition, some villagers got separated from the group. After some time, one of the hunters mistook them for wild boars and opened fire, hitting two villagers. One of them died on the spot, while the other sustained serious injuries," he said.

Shocked and panicked by the accidental killing, the group dragged the deceased person's body into the bushes and hid it instead of reporting about the incident to the police, he said.

"After receiving a tip-off, the police conducted a probe and detained six villagers suspected to be involved in the crime. After an extensive search on Wednesday, the authorities recovered the highly decomposed body of the victim and sent it for a postmortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of the death," Dharashivkar said.

There are reports that the injured villager also succumbed to his wounds during treatment and his body has been cremated by the villagers without informing the authorities. However, the police are trying to ascertain it and conducting investigation into it, he said, adding that an FIR is being registered against the accused.