Thane Crime: 21-Year-Old Flower Vendor Arrested For Stabbing Shopkeeper To Death Over Banana Leaf Dispute At APMC Market In Kalyan

A 21-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stabbing a man to death and injuring two others over a dispute involving banana leaves at the APMC market in Kalyan on Sunday morning. The accused has been identified as Chirag Soni (21), a flower garland vendor at the APMC market who lives in the Patri Pool area of Kalyan. The deceased has been identified as Chamanlal Karla (55), while his son, Kartick Karla, and his wife were injured in the incident.

According to the police, both parties ran shops in the APMC market and had ordered banana leaves from a businessman in Jalgaon. On the scheduled date, five bunches of banana leaves were transported to the deceased’s shop. Soni went to Karla’s shop to claim one bunch of the banana leaves, which he said was meant for the Jalgaon party. However, Karla refused to hand them over, leading to a verbal altercation. The heated argument quickly escalated into a fight, during which Soni, in a fit of anger, took a pair of scissors and stabbed Karla in the chest and abdomen.

Karla’s son and wife rushed to intervene but were injured in the process. Locals who witnessed the incident alerted the police and rushed the injured to a nearby hospital, where Karla was declared dead during treatment. The other two victims are currently undergoing treatment.

ACP Kalyan Ghete said, "We tracked down the accused in the Kolsewadi area of Kalyan within hours of the murder. He will be produced in court on Monday. During the preliminary investigation, it was learned that the accused had placed an order for one bunch of banana leaves, while Karla had ordered four bunches from the Jalgaon businessman. Unfortunately, all five bunches were transported to Karla’s shop, and his refusal to part with one bunch led to the fatal incident."