'2nd Shubham murder accused not a minor'

Ten days after the killing of 15-year-old Shubham Shirke, Sassoon General Hospital has submitted a report to the police stating that at least one of the accused in the kidnap and murder case who was thought to be a minor is an adult.

A ‘major' crime: The slain (inset) Shubham Shirke; the three suspects nabbed by the police in the case of kidnap and murder. File Pics

The report stated that one of the two accused over whose age there was a doubt is 21 years old and the other is about 18.u00a0A third accused is already known to be 19 years old.

"With the Sassoon report, we now see a ray of hope as from the first day we have been demanding harsh punishment for the trio," Shubham's maternal uncle Sudhir Nikam said.

Shubham's parents had said in a press conference that justice would be denied to them if his killers were not given stringent punishment.u00a0"We have received the medical report on Monday and it will be produced in court," Senior Police Inspector Motichand Rathod of the Vishrantwadi police station said.

"As per the court's further order, next course of action will be decided."u00a0The police had already arrested 19-year-old Amit Nayar of Dighi on April 1. They had also detained two of his accomplices, who were believed to be minors and sent to the observation home.

The medical test on the two accomplices was subsequently conducted at Sassoon. On March 31, Nayar and his two accomplices had called Shubham at 2 pm and asked him to step outside his home.

The three allegedly made him sit in a van and took him to the Dighi Magazine area, strangled him and slit his throat, and called his parents to demand Rs 50,000, telling them they had kidnapped their son. The police said the three even managed to collect Rs 15,000 from Shubham's parents.

Records vs report
Inspector Rathod said that according to school records, one of Nayar's accomplices was a Std V dropout and would be completing 18 years in June while the medical report stated he was about 21 years old.u00a0The police said the age of Nayar's other accomplice was 16 according to school records while the medical report stated his age to be about 18 years.u00a0