Fake godman held for killing woman, her friend in Maharashtra’s Dhule

May 17, 2026 Headlinesnews

3 min readMumbaiMay 17, 2026 10:12 PM IST

The Nizampur police in Maharashtra’s Dhule district have arrested a self-styled godman for allegedly murdering a 25-year-old woman and her friend after performing superstitious rituals at his cowshed and adjoining field on the night of the new moon.

The accused, identified as Yogesh Bapu Khairnar, 33, allegedly strangled the woman to death after she resisted his attempt to sexually assault her, and later killed her male friend with an iron rod to eliminate evidence, police said.

According to investigators, the victims — Jayshree Rajnikanth Kakuste, 25, a resident of Kasare village in Sakri taluka, and her friend Akshay Gangadhar Sonawane — had visited Khairnar on Friday night to participate in a religious ritual. Khairnar allegedly took them to a field near his cowshed where he conducted rituals associated with the new moon.

Police said the case came to light on Saturday morning after the Nizampur police received information about a decomposed body of a woman lying near a road along with a two-wheeler. Assistant Police Inspector Mayur Bhamre and his team rushed to the spot and began an investigation.

A mobile phone recovered near the body helped police identify the deceased as Kakuste. During the probe, officers learnt that she and Sonawane had gone to meet Khairnar the previous night.
Based on technical analysis and confidential inputs, police detained Khairnar for questioning. Officials said he initially attempted to mislead investigators by giving false statements, but later confessed to the crime.

According to police, after completing the rituals, Khairnar allegedly asked Sonawane to remain in the field while he dropped Kakuste back home on a motorcycle. However, after travelling some distance, he allegedly attempted to sexually assault her. When she resisted and raised an alarm, he strangled her to death, police said.

Investigators said Khairnar later returned to the field and attacked Sonawane on the head with an iron rod, killing him to avoid being identified. He then allegedly attempted to destroy evidence by mutilating and partially burning the body before dumping it in a forested area near the cowshed.
Khairnar has been arrested on charges of murder, police said, adding that further investigation is underway to gather additional evidence and reconstruct the sequence of events.

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Police officials said the woman was married and employed with a private firm. Investigators are also probing the accused’s background, including how long he had been practising such rituals and whether he has any prior criminal record.

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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