Thane court acquits four persons in 2014 murder case

A Thane court acquitted four persons accused of murdering a 29yearold man in 2014 noting that the evidence was insufficient to link them to the crime reported news agency PTIAdditional sessions judge D S Deshmukh acquitted the men booked under sections 302 murder and 201 causing disappearance of evidence of the Indian Penal Code due to insufficient evidence reported PTIThe order passed on September 2 was made available on SundayThe prosecution alleged that the accused Ganesh alias Ganya Nivrutti Rakhpasre 50 his brother Mangesh 42 Sahadev alias Sajya Vitthal Londe 34 and Badal Sadashiv Bodke 38 were involved in the killing of Ganesh alias Ganya Sukhdev Abhang reported PTIAccording to the prosecution the accused assaulted the victim following an argument about alcohol in the wee hours of April 4 2014 reported PTIThey later dumped him in an autorickshaw and took him to Kalwa railway station where they left his body on a benchDefence counsel Sudhakar Parad argued that the evidence was insufficient and highlighted discrepancies in the investigation reported PTIJudge Deshmukh noted that the prosecution had failed to provide adequate proof As a result the accused were given the benefit of the doubt and acquitted of all chargesThane court acquits 12 in murder of jewellery shop employeeA Thane court has acquitted 12 persons allegedly involved in the murder of a jewellery shop employee two years ago observing that the prosecution could not prove the charges against them reported news agency PTIIn his order the Additional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat gave the benefit of doubt to the dozen accused who had also been booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities ActAccording to the prosecution victim Krushna Padaram Tusamand 30 was a sweeper in a jewellery shop in the Bhayander area reported PTIOn May 7 2022 the shop owner and other accused tied Tusamand to a window and brutally thrashed him on suspicion of theft Tusamand died due to the assault the prosecution saidOn a complaint by Tusamands father the police booked the jewellery shop owner and 11 others for murder reported PTIWhile advocates Rajan Salunke and Sameer Hatle who represented the accused contested the charges pressed against their clients 12 prosecution witnesses turned hostile during the trial reported PTIIn his order the judge relied on Tusamands postmortem report which said that the injuries suffered by the victim might have been due to a fall from a moving vehicle to give relief to the accused reported PTIPointing to gaps in the prosecutions theory the Thane court said it could not prove the seizure of the weapons from the accused while one of the investigation officers was not examined The prosecution also could not prove that the victim belonged to the SC or ST category the court saidWith inputs from PTI