Actor’s murder: Evidence blown, accused let off

An eightyearlong legal battle in the murder of actress Kritika Chaudhary ended in acquittal on March 29 as the Dindoshi Sessions Court set both accused freeDespite forensic evidence suggesting a DNA match between the accused and samples found under the deceasedrsquos nails the prosecution failed to prove their case with glaring discrepancies in the forensic timeline raising serious doubtsThe accused who spent nearly a decade behind bars are set to walk free on a bond of Rs 15000 and a solvent surety after the court ruled that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the chargesKey forensic contradictionsThe accusedrsquos lawyer Kalam Shaikh told midday ldquoThe case against my client rested on an eyewitness account which only stated that he was seen entering the deceasedrsquos house That alone does not prove he committed murder or robberyrdquoThe investigation uncovered a murky link to drugs and unpaid debts File picHe highlighted the prosecutions inconsistent forensic evidence stating ldquoTwo DNA tests were conducted and both yielded positive results One test compared my client Shakeel Khanrsquos blood sample with particles found under the deceasedrsquos nails The second test analysed compared shoes and a belt my client was wearing with the particles found under the deceasedrsquos nailsrdquoHowever crucial discrepancies in the dates cast doubt on the prosecutionrsquos case Police and forensic experts testified that Khanrsquos blood sample was collected on July 11 2017 Yet official forensic records state the sample was taken on July 12mdashwithout any witness testifying to a collection on that date ldquoIf the sample was taken on July 11 then whose sample does the July 12 report belong tordquo Shaikh questionedFurther inconsistencies emerged with the second DNA test It was state that the belt was received on July 1 and examined on July 7 However police records indicate that the accused was arrested on July 10 and that the belt was seized on July 13 This discrepancy raises a critical question whose belt was tested on July 7 Consequently the court disregarded the beltrsquos test reportmdasha decision that favored the accusedAdditionally the prosecution failed to present concrete evidencemdashsuch as photographs or official documentationmdashto prove that the gold jewellery recovered from the accused actually belonged to the deceasedThe murder caseThe decomposed body of actress Kritika Chaudhary was discovered in her Amboli apartment in June 2017 The postmortem report classified her death as unnatural revealing multiple head injuries A murder and robbery case was subsequently registered at Amboli police stationThe investigation uncovered a murky link to drugs and unpaid debts Police arrested two suspects including a drug peddler claiming the murder was over R6000 that Chaudhary owed himThe accused identified as Shakeel Khan 33 and Basudas Das alias Badshah Makamlal Das 40 first came under suspicion after being spotted by the buildingrsquos watchmanHowever cracking the case proved difficult CCTV footage yielded no clues scanning a years worth of call data records led nowhere and questioning over 1000 people failed to produce leadsThough Khanrsquos number appeared in Chaudharyrsquos call records they showed no contact for over a year Still his evasive behaviour during police questioning raised suspicion A known drug peddler in Malwani and a former police informer Khan repeatedly moved between Malad Nalasopara and Panvel avoiding law enforcement He was detained at PanvelThe buildingrsquos watchman later identified Khan as someone who frequently visited Chaudharyrsquos house demanding to see her Police learned that Chaudharyrsquos previous drug supplier Asif Khan had been arrested by the AntiNarcotics Cell the previous year after which Khan took overldquoKritika had bought drugs from him and hadnrsquot paid Thatrsquos why the watchman repeatedly saw him returning to collect the moneyrdquo a police officer had said at the timeAccording to the policersquos initial report on June 12 Das pressured Khan to repay a debt prompting Khan to visit Chaudhary to collect his pending amount When she refused an argument escalated Khan who allegedly carried a knuckle duster hit her three times before changing his clothes and leaving2017Year murder was committed