The incident had occurred on the night of May 20, 2017 in a garden in Mira Road area, where the accused, the deceased Rajendra alias Rajan Meshram and another person named Biru Netam were consuming liquor
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A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the murder of a fellow labourer following a drunken brawl nine years ago, reported news agency PTI.
In the order passed on March 18, Additional Sessions Judge R S Bhakare convicted Ashok Laljitkumar Chaurasiya (39) and his elder brother Kamleshkumar (53) under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced them, reported PTI.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each convict.
The incident had occurred on the night of May 20, 2017 in a garden in Mira Road area, where the accused, the deceased Rajendra alias Rajan Meshram and another person named Biru Netam were consuming liquor, reported PTI.
The prosecution said an argument began when Biru demanded more liquor from Ashok. This led to a scuffle, during which the accused duo repeatedly assaulted Rajendra on the head with a log of wood. While Rajendra succumbed to his injuries, Biru was also injured in the attack, reported PTI.
The court relied on circumstantial evidence, medical reports, and forensic findings, as the informant and the injured witness could not be traced for testimony during the trial.
The court said, "The probable cause of death was head injury (unnatural)...the injuries mentioned in the PM report are possible by wooden log . These injuries are sufficient to cause death."
It added that the accused did not give any explanation about the blood stains found on their clothes.
The accused had also sustained injuries, but failed to give an explanation about how they were injured. Hence, the prosecution has proven the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubt, the court concluded.
Illegal sand mining racket busted in Thane, machinery of Rs 90 lakh destroyed
Meanwhile, authorities in Maharashtra's Thane district have carried out a crackdown against illegal sand mining in Bhiwandi taluka and destroyed various equipment, including barges, collectively valued at around Rs 90 lakh, officials said on Saturday, reported PTI.
The revenue department carried out the operation in Kevani creek area on Friday based on a tip-off, an official release said.
"The revenue department took major action against the mafia involved in illegal sand mining in the Kevani Sand Port area. In this operation, property worth about Rs 80 to 90 lakh was destroyed," it said, reported PTI.
During the operation, led by District Collector Shrikrishna Panchal, authorities destroyed five suction units and eight barges allegedly used in extraction of sand. The equipment was burnt and the barges were sunk in the creek, resulting in heavy financial losses to those involved in illegal activities, it added, reported PTI.
The mafia had created 12 large storage tanks along the creek to stock illegally extracted sand. These tanks were demolished using three backhoe loader machines, the release said.
Authorities said the land used for storing the sand falls under the 'reserved forest' category.
(With inputs from PTI)
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