# Man watched Drishyam 3, killed father with axe, phone call led to arrest 2026-10-04T12:10:29+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets A 26-year-old man from Bihar allegedly watched the Bollywood crime thriller Drishyam 3 in Surat before travelling nearly 2,000 km to his home in Samastipur and hacking his sleeping father to death with an axe, police said on Sunday (4 October). The murder took place late on the night of 26 July in Darwa village. The victim, Raghuveer Sahni, 50, was sleeping outside his house when his son, Shiv Shankar, allegedly attacked him repeatedly with an axe and fled, according to police. Shiv Shankar, who lived and worked in Surat, had a strained relationship with his father over a land dispute and alleged abuse, both outlets reported. He switched off his mobile phone during the journey to avoid a digital trail, but his plan unravelled when he turned on the phone at Patori railway station and called his wife. Technical surveillance placed his phone near Patori on the day of the murder and in Surat about 36 hours later, leading to his arrest. During questioning, Shiv Shankar allegedly admitted he planned the murder after watching Drishyam 3, which revolves around creating a misleading timeline. He was sent to jail, police said. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both India Today and News9live reported the same police account without editorial comment, making this a case of uniform straight reporting. Each outlet led with the Drishyam 3 inspiration and the phone-call mistake, followed by identical travel details and the land-dispute motive. Neither source questioned the police narrative, the suspect's confession, or the forensic evidence. The only difference is length: India Today included more background on the film's plot. A reader can take the facts as given by investigators, with no competing version in either report. Police said the suspect remains in jail. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - indiatoday.in (neutral report) Straight narration of police account, no editorialising - news9live.com (neutral report) Wire-style reporting of police statement, no slant This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Ajay Devgn, Bihar, Drishyam 3, Samastipur, Surat Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/man-watched-drishyam-3-killed-father-with-axe-phone-call-led-to-arrest/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/man-watched-drishyam-3-killed-father-with-axe-phone-call-led-to-arrest/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/