THANE: A 60-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Thane district has been arrested for allegedly killing her daughter-in-law over a dispute involving a railway job and gratuity funds, police said on Saturday.
While the accused woman wanted to keep her deceased son's gratuity money, she also wanted her grandson to get a job on compassionate grounds, not the victim, an official said.
On the first day of the New Year, police were alerted about a woman with severe head and facial injuries lying near the Waldhuni bridge in the Kalyan area.
The woman was taken to a hospital, but doctors said she was already dead.
An Accidental Death Report was initially filed at the Mahatma Phule Chowk police station, and the body was sent for post-mortem.
The breakthrough came after one Latabai Natha Gangurde approached the police station claiming that her daughter-in-law, Rupali Vilas Gangurde (35), had been missing since 8 am.
She later identified that the woman, who was found near the Waldhuni bridge, was Rupali.
However, the missing story took a twist when a crime branch team led by inspector Vijay Naik questioned her.
Rupali's husband Vilas, a railway employee, had passed away in September 2025.
Since his death, Rupali had received his gratuity money of Rs 9-10 lakh, which Latabai allegedly demanded for herself.
The official said Latabai and Rupai also got into a dispute over Vilas's railway job.
Latabai wanted her 15-year-old grandson to be recruited on compassionate grounds, while Rupali had applied for the position herself, he said.
Latabai then conspired with her friend Jagdish Mahadev Mhatre (67) to eliminate Rupali.
The previous night, the duo allegedly attacked Rupali with an iron rod, killing her instantly, the official said.
The accused wiped off bloodstains, changed the victim's blood-soaked clothes, and dumped her near the bridge, said Kalyanji Gete, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kalyan Division.
"This was a cold-blooded crime driven by greed for money and control over a government job. The accused attempted to mislead the investigation by filing a missing person report for the very woman they had murdered. Our team cracked the case within 24 hours," he said.
Latabai and Mhatre have been arrested for murder and causing disappearance of evidence, the official added.