Miscreants break into temple in Palghar; steal valuables worth Rs 2.35 lakh

Unidentified persons broke into a temple and stole valuables worth Rs 235 lakh in Maharashtras Palghar district police said on Sunday reported news agency PTIThe theft occurred at Pimpal Nala in the Chinchani area late on Thursday night an official saidThe official from Vangaon police station said unidentified miscreants broke into the Samudri Mata Mandir and decamped with valuables worth Rs 235 lakh including an idol ornaments and cash from donation boxes reported PTIA case has been registered under sections 305a theft in a dwelling house means of transportation or place of worship and 3314 lurking housetrespass or housebreaking after sunset and before sunrise of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS he said adding that a probe is underwayThane court acquits man accused of kidnapping murdering 13yearold boyA court in Maharashtras Thane district has acquitted a man accused of kidnapping and murdering a 13yearold boy in 2022 citing insufficient evidence against himPrincipal District and Sessions Court judge S B Agrawal acquitted Dashrath Prakash Kakade 30 a resident of Mumbra of charges including abduction murder and destruction of evidenceA copy of the order dated February 28 was made available on SundayThe prosecution had alleged that Kakade a contractor had kidnapped the victim Suresh alias Rupesh Vijay Gole on the pretext of buying clothes on April 17 2022 and later strangled him at a public toilet near the railway tracks in Diva ThaneInitially an FIR was registered under section 363 kidnapping of the Indian Penal Code The police later added the charges of sections 302 murder 364 kidnapping with intent to murder and 201 destruction of evidenceDuring the trial the victims mother testified that Kakade took the boy away around 3 pm on the day of the incident However the court raised concerns about the credibility of her statement as it was recorded 11 days after the incidentA crucial piece of evidence CCTV footage allegedly showing Kakade with the victim was also ruled inadmissible due to noncompliance with the Indian Evidence ActAnother key argument made by the prosecution was that Kakade led the police to the location of the boys body However the court questioned the validity of this claim highlighting that the body was discovered in a public toilet a location accessible to manyWhile the postmortem report confirmed that the victim died due to throttling it did not provide any direct link to the accused the court saidBlood and forensic analyses also failed to establish any conclusive evidence against him it statedThe court also noted that the initial FIR mentioned Kakade dropping the victim off at a local fair leaving room for other possibilitiesGiven these gaps in the evidence the court held that the prosecution had failed to establish an unbroken chain of circumstances proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubtWith inputs from PTI