Thane: A 28-year-old owner of a powerloom at Bhiwandi in the district was allegedly hacked to death by his five relatives over a dispute, police said today.   

The incident took place last night and all the accused were arrested, a police officer said. "The accused were relatives of the victim Shaddab Bhai and there was a long-standing dispute over the running of the powerloom unit," inspector of Bhoiwada police station, V D Bhise, said.  

The accused stormed into the victim's powerloom unit around 7 pm yesterday, asked the employees to move out and forcibly shut the operations, he said.   

"Thereafter, they asked the victim to come to the unit and when he arrived, they attacked him with sharp weapons, in which he died on the spot. After the crime, the accused fled from the scene," Bhise said.   

The accused, identified as Haidar Ali Sherali Ansari, Aftab Hyder Ali Ansari, Naushar Haidar Ali Ansari, Harshad Haidar Ali Ansari and Shahjadali Hyder Ali Ansari, were later arrested, he said.   

The body of the deceased was sent for a post-mortem, police said adding that the five accused have been booked under various IPC sections, including 302 (murder). PTI