Man bludgeoned to death, body set on fire in Maharashtra's Latur; one held

Latur: A man was arrested for allegedly bludgeoning a 25-year-old man to death and setting his body on fire in Maharashtra's Latur district on Sunday, police said.

The accused, a scrap collector, was arrested within five hours of the killing that took place on Barshi road in the jurisdiction of the MIDC police station, an official said.

The body of an unidentified man near a hospital in the morning, he said.

The victim was later identified as Laxman Subhash Gajghate, a resident of Navi Mumbai, was an alcoholic and had come to Latur on October 24 for medical treatment, the official said.

Gajghate left his sister's house on Saturday and did not return, he said.

Following a probe, the police zeroed in on the accused, Sachin Shivaji Waghmare. The victim had allegedly assaulted Waghamre for a sleeping spot on the roadside, the official said.

The accused later returned to the scene and allegedly bludgeoned the victim with a stone while he was asleep and set the body on fire to destroy evidence, he said.