Additional special judge A N Sirsikar convicted the accused of charges under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code but dismissed charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOC Act) and Arms Act
A court in Maharashtra's Thane also acquitted three others in the 2014 Shiv Sena leader Mohan Raut murder case. Representational Pic/File
A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced four persons to life imprisonment in connection with the 2014 Shiv Sena leader murder case, reported the PTI.
Additional special judge A N Sirsikar convicted the accused of charges under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code but dismissed charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOC Act) and Arms Act, according to the PTI.
A copy of the order, dated June 18, was made available on Saturday.
The court also acquitted three others in the case.
The court sentenced Chandrakant alias Pintya Balaram Mhaskar (39), Gangaram alias Gangya Atmaram Linge (44), Yogesh Narayan Raut (45), and Ajay alias Ajya Gajanan Gurav (37) to life imprisonment, and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000. Defaulting the payment will attract three months of rigorous imprisonment, as per the PTI.
Mohan Raut, the deputy chief of the Shiv Sena's Badlapur City unit, was gunned down at his office on the night of May 23, 2014. He was rushed to Dhanvantari Hospital and later to AIMS Hospital in Dombivli, where he was declared dead.
The judge, while dismissing charges against the accused under the MCOCA, noted that the existence of an organised crime syndicate was not proved.
"Although the offence is committed in a brutal manner, in my opinion, it cannot be termed as a rarest of rare case," the judge noted, according to the PTI.
The court acquitted Nilesh alias Nitya Bapu Jadhav (38), Pravin Parshuram Morge (44), and Ramesh Baban Masne (43) of all charges due to insufficient evidence, the news agency reported on Saturday.
Hawker jailed for 7 years for attacking civic official during anti-encroachment drive in Thane
Meanwhile, a court in Maharashtra's Thane city on Friday sentenced a hawker to seven years in jail for attacking a woman civic official during an anti-encroachment drive in the city in 2021.
In his order, Additional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat said the prosecution had proved all charges, including attempt to murder, against the convict, Amarjitsingh Shivshankar Yadav, alias Amarjit Yadav, beyond reasonable doubt, as per the PTI.
During the trial, Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hirey told the court that Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kalpita Pimple was leading a drive to clear encroachment in August 2021 when Yadav attacked her with a sharp object, severing her three fingers.
Hirey said that if Pimple had not raised her hands to protect herself, the attack might have proved fatal. Yadav had also threatened the other members of the civic body team, including Pimple's security guard, and assaulted some of them, he told the court.
The court examined 21 witnesses during the trial.
Hirey indicated he might appeal for a longer sentence.
"After reading the full judgment, we will decide our further course of action. However, prima facie the sentence of seven years for the crime is insufficient," he said.
(with PTI inputs)
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