According to the police, the Mulund police station received a call from one Nitin Desai that over a dozen intruders had entered the Maruti Arcade building at Nehru Road at around 3 am today. When a search party from the station reached the spot, they found a group of youths hanging around the area in a suspicious manner.

On seeing the police, the youths started running away but in the darkness, at least eight of them missed the uncovered well before them. The police too did not notice the youths and gave chase to the rest of the group who managed to escape.

As daylight dawned, the residents of the area noticed footmarks at the mouth of the well and searched the area. They found the youths fighting for the lives inside the well.

The fire brigade was alerted by 5 pm and a few hours later fished out five bodies and three youths who had sufferedinjuries.

The dead have been identified as Vijay Salve (20), Vishnu Nikhale (20), Mohan Sansare (18) and Vittal More (18). The fifth person has not yet been identified.

The injured Jagdish Pagare (20), Vilas Jagtap (26) and Muthukrishnan (21) have been admitted to the Indira Nursing Home nearby.

Sources claim that the tragedy could have been a fallout of a property dispute Nitin Desai and a Tony Agarwal. Agrawal allegedly offered the youths employment if they managed to evict Desai from the place. The police have not confirmed this fact and claim that the matter is under investigation.