Palghar: 2 freed after 9 years in jail, as court slams botched investigation

Two youths after spending almost nine years in Thane jail in connection with a murder case walked free as a Vasai court acquitted them due to a severe lack of evidence and motive Their relatives thanked the court for the acquittal but said that their youth was destroyed as they were ldquofalsely implicatedrdquo in the caseA 21yearold milk businessman Subhashchand Gupta was found dead at a house in Nalasopara on March 17 2016 His body was stuffed in a gunny bag with a nylon rope found nearby His elder brother Chandrashekhar Gupta registered an FIR at the Tulinj police station against four people including two juveniles Subsequently two suspectsmdashRavi Dangur and Abhijeet Mishramdashwere arrestedThe prime suspect Shiva Bhaiya remained at large until last year when the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar MBVV police arrested him in Uttar Pradesh The remaining two suspects were juveniles and were not arrested but handled according to juvenile lawlsquoBotched investigationrsquoComplainant Chandrashekhar Gupta told midday that two officers had investigated the case before the charge sheet was filed ldquoInitially inspector Kiran Kabadi investigated the case and later senior inspector Prakash Virajdar took over and filed the charge sheet in Vasai courtHowever they failed to retrieve call data records CCTV footage or other incriminating evidence to convict the killers of my brotherrdquo Chandrashekhar said ldquoDespite two inspectorlevel officers working on the case they couldnrsquot even establish the motive behind the murder Now with the killers set free due to this botched investigation we are worried for our safetyrdquo he addedldquoMy brother was killed just a month after his wedding His widow is still devastated and she refuses to remarry The killers destroyed two lives yet they have been acquitted All thanks to the Tulinj police officersrdquo he said ldquoMy brother deserves justice and I wonrsquot let the matter rest I will challenge the verdict in the high court to seek justicerdquo vowed ChandrashekharEmotional moment at courtAfter the judge acquitted Dangur and Mishra on Monday their parentsrsquo broke into tears at the Vasai court They were seen touching the feet of the advocates and hugging each other with joy Shyamveer Dangur Ravi Dangurrsquos father said ldquoThis case caused us tremendous mental stressWe waited 87 long years to see my son set free He was arrested in 2016 and during that time my daughter got married but my son was denied bail We had lost all hope but my advocate Darshana Tripathy fought well for him I am thankful to the courtrdquoPremnath Mishra Abhijit Mishrarsquos father said ldquoI am a smalltime farmer from Uttar Pradesh My son was falsely implicated by the police and the complainant They destroyed his youthmdashhersquos now nearly 28 years old Irsquoll take him back to our native place in Jaunpur as I fear for his safety in NalasoparardquoAdvocates speakldquoFinally we succeeded in securing justice for our client who was innocent There needs to be a system in place to prevent innocent people from being wrongfully imprisonedrdquo said advocate Darshana Tripathy Dangurrsquos lawyerAdvocate Siddhesh Naik Mishrarsquos lawyer said ldquoDespite the investigating officerrsquos coercive tactics and reliance on false panchnama and witnesses justice prevailed The acquittal highlights the importance of upholding the rule of law and protecting individuals from wrongful prosecutionrdquo10 mistakes made by the Tulinj police that led to acquittal Advocate complainant1 Failure to retrieve call data records of the accused2 Incomplete crime scene investigation and failure to retrieve fingerprints3 No CCTV footage was secured for digital evidence4 Regular panch witnesses were used instead of locals despite the crime occurring in a densely populated area5 Failure to establish the motive behind the murder6 Police failed to prove the ldquolast seenrdquo theory7 Other potential angles in the case were not explored8 No proof of the seized items was submitted in court9 No background check of the deceased and complainant was conducted10 No identification parade was conducted