03 January,2026 02:50 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondent
The court noted a delay in lodging the complaint and observed that the testimonies of neighbours and the victim’s family were not in tandem. Representational Pic
A court in Maharashtra's Thane district on Friday acquitted a 69-year-old man and his son in a 2022 murder case, citing insufficient evidence to support the charges.
Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal held Avinash Rambadan Yadav (39) and his father, Rambadan Barsan Yadav, not guilty of murder and assault, reported news agency PTI.
The duo were accused of killing Sunil Jagannath Yadav (23) in June 2022 over an alleged love affair with Avinash's daughter.
According to the prosecution, the victim was tied up and beaten at the father-son duo's house in the Upvan area of the city in the early hours of June 26, 2022. He succumbed to his injuries three days later at KEM Hospital, having sustained 46 blunt-force injuries.
The court noted a delay in complaining and observed that the testimonies of neighbours and the victim's family were not in tandem, reported PTI.
The defence argued that residents mistook Sunil for a thief as he was covered in wheat flour and running at the time.
"Considering the version of the defence that the victim had wheat flour all over his body and that he was running, people in the area thought he was a thief and assaulted him is not entirely improbable," the judge said, granting the accused the benefit of the doubt, reported PTI.
Earlier in December, a Thane court acquitted nine persons booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in a 2016 dacoity case, noting that their identification was unreliable and that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them, news agency PTI reported.
The court observed that the mandatory requirement of an offence of organised crime, as defined under Section 2(1)(e) of the MCOCA, had not been proved against the accused.
"Therefore, the mere collection of copies of previous charge-sheets and reliance on the sanction order under Section 23(2) of the Act are not sufficient to prove the offence under Section 3 of the MCOCA," Special Judge (MCOCA) V G Mohite said in an order dated December 12, PTI reported.
According to the prosecution, the accused had allegedly threatened a family, wrongfully confined them, and stolen cash and ornaments from their house in Talasari, in neighbouring Palghar district, on July 18, 2016.
The accused were booked under Sections 395 (dacoity), 397 (robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the MCOCA.
(With PTI inputs)
