According to the prosecution, Bunty Pradhan, a local property dealer, was exiting a bar on Mira-Bhayander Road with his friends in Maharashtra’s Thane district on April 13, 2015, when some unidentified persons opened fire on them
The judge, however, noted that the informant did not identify the accused persons in court, stating he could not recognise the true assailants. Representational Pic
A Thane court on Saturday acquitted all eight accused in the 2015 murder case of a property dealer, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove charges, mainly due to eyewitnesses being unable to identify the assailants. Another accused had died during the trial.
Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal noted that the core of the case, the identification of the killers, was fundamentally flawed, reported news agency PTI.
According to the prosecution, Bunty Pradhan, a local property dealer, was exiting a bar on Mira-Bhayander Road with his friends in Maharashtra’s Thane district on April 13, 2015, when some unidentified persons opened fire on them.
Pradhan succumbed to multiple bullet wounds, while his friend, Sachin Manohar Vijaykar, sustained serious injuries, reported PTI.
The police had initially claimed the attack resulted from a property rivalry and arrested the accused, charging them under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Arms Act.
The judge, however, noted that the informant did not identify the accused persons in court, stating he could not recognise the true assailants.
Regarding the testimony of the injured witness, Sachin Vijaykar, who gave a version involving six attackers instead of the two mentioned in the original First Information Report (FIR), the court said this was entirely contradictory to what was stated in the FIR and by the informant in his evidence. The identification described by the witness was “quite cryptic,” and his court identification after ten years held no value, the judgment stated.
The court further noted that other eyewitnesses, including Julekha Shaikh, who mistook the gunshots for firecrackers, were also unable to identify the accused.
While the prosecution examined witnesses to establish a land dispute as the motive, the court found this insufficient without direct evidence of the shooting itself.
“In the absence of substantive evidence regarding the incident, their evidence pertaining to the motive is also of no consequence,” it said.
The court acquitted Jiten Jwala, Rajesh Chauhan, Ravindra Arya, Jatashankar Pande, Mukesh Shetty, Yashodip Naik, Ajay Singh, and Rahul Sharma. Another accused, Mayank Gala, died during the trial.
While seven of the accused were already out on bail, the court ordered the immediate release of Rahul Sharma, who was still in custody.
(With PTI inputs)
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