Watermelon poisoning: Police question relatives, probe rat poison vendors

May 9, 2026 Headlinesnews

3 min readMumbaiMay 9, 2026 09:40 PM IST

The JJ Marg police have been questioning guests and family members who had visited the Dokadia family’s residence between April 22 to April 25 four days prior to the deaths of four members of the family. However, 18 members have been questioned but so far police have not been able to determine the person as well as how the rat poison reached Dokadia family’s home.

The investigating officer has been replaced in the case due to the delay in the investigation to nab the culprit and police have recorded statements of more than 20 rat poison vendors. On the night of April 25, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen Dokadia (35) and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zainab (13) residing in Pydhonie area of south Mumbai had dinner with five other relatives. Around 1.30am, the family of four ate a watermelon and passed away in the next 12 hours.

“We are trying to trace the culprit and it seems that someone who knows the family is involved in the matter but can not confirm it until we get evidence,” said a police officer. The five members who had visited on the day of the incident are still being questioned.

Police officials said Ayesha Dokadia, who was in class 10th, had passed her examinations. She was studying in Byculla school. The police have been questioning classmates of Ayesha and Zainab to get any clue if that could help in the investigation. “We have collected data on individuals who visited or left the Dokadia family’s residence four days prior to the deaths and they are being verified,” an officer said.

Traces of zinc phosphide (rat poison) powder were found in a watermelon, yet no poison containing zinc phosphide has been recovered from Abdullah’s residence. No remnants were found in the house apart from a rat repellent that theft had found at their second floor residence on day one. The police checked a bottle but it does not contain zinc phosphide but is a herbal concoction.

Relatives of the Dokadia family said their residence had a rat problem as did several flats in the building. The family did use several things like rat repellents and glue pads to deal with the problem, said a police officer.

Manish Kumar Pathak is a dedicated journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Mumbai. His work demonstrates substantial Expertise and Authority across the complex field of crime reporting, with a strong focus on law enforcement actions, fraud, and cyber security challenges facing the metropolitan region.
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Manish Kumar Pathak’s consistent focus on crime, fraud, and the workings of the Mumbai police system establishes him as a trusted and authoritative source for critical news in Western India. … Read More