September 19, 2025

THANE: Hold your breath! In a jaw-dropping coincidence, the Thane District Court handed down shocking verdicts against two brothers — both guilty of violent crimes in their own family but in very different ways. Principal District and Sessions Judge S.B. Agrawal stunned everyone on 12 September by delivering these rare rulings in cases never seen before in the district’s history. The younger brother, 28-year-old Vishal Arun Alzende, was sentenced to life imprisonment plus a Rs 10,000 fine for the brutal murder of his mother, Urmila Arun Alzende. This horrific crime happened on 19 July 2021 and was sparked by a petty fight over just Rs 20 for a rickshaw fare! The court heard that the poor mother suffered more than 50 stab wounds from a screwdriver, painting a terrifying picture of cold-blooded violence. Key witness? None other than Vishal’s sister-in-law, Chaitali Alzende, whose brave eyewitness account helped nail him. Judge Agrawal firmly rejected the defence’s claim that Vishal was mentally unstable, saying, “nothing in the cross-examination suggested the accused was incapable of understanding his actions.” The judge called it “a cold-blooded murder committed by the accused of his mother by inflicting several blows on her neck and chest with a screwdriver.” Meanwhile, in a twist, Vishal’s elder brother, 37-year-old Vishnu Arun Alzende, got a very different fate. Vishnu was cleared of killing his own father, Arun Baliram Alzende, but was found guilty of assaulting his grandmother and uncle with a dangerous weapon during a violent night on 30–31 August 2016. Vishnu was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000, part of which will compensate the victims. The murder charge against Vishnu didn’t stick due to lack of supporting evidence. Interestingly, although Vishnu confessed to the police, the judge ruled this confession invalid under the Evidence Act because he was already in police custody when it happened. Still, the court believed the victims’ honest testimonies enough to convict him for assault. Defence lawyers Sagar Kolhe and Sanjay Gaikwad stood for the brothers, but Adv Kolhe called these twin verdicts "a dark milestone." Never before has the Thane court seen such a dramatic family saga played out with such tough consequences.

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Tags: Thane district court, Family violence, Murder case, Assault conviction, Life imprisonment, Indian penal code,