Bombay High Court upholds life sentences of 2 men in businessman murder case
The High Court of Bombay dismissed an appeal and upheld the life sentences of two men from Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgad and Gorakhpur for killing a businessperson in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai on November 5, 2011.Anil Kumar alias Chhotelal Yadav, 27, and Nagendra Kumar alias Monu Lalkrishor Kanojiya, 25, were arrested in Lucknow and Gorakhpur, respectively, for killing Shankar Thakkar, a businessperson engaged in an embroidery business.advertisementThakkar visited his workshop on the fateful day of November 5, 2011, and did not return. His phone was unreachable and when his family reached the workshop the next day, the shop was locked, but it was only two days later that a foul smell coming from the shop alerted the family members.
The police broke open the lock, after which Thakkar's body was found lying dead in a pool of blood on his cabin floor with a computer wire tied around his neck and some oozes of blood on stained bricks.The probe revealed that a gold chain, ring, cash and the mobile phone of the deceased were stolen.The Call Data Record (CDR) and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of the mobile phones of the deceased revealed that the same was being used by Kanojiya. The broken gold chain of the deceased was seized from a jewellery shop and blood-stained clothes worn by the accused were also seized after the accused revealed the details through interrogation.advertisementThe trial was conducted by the Mumbai Sessions Court, where the prosecution's case was based on circumstantial evidence including eyewitnesses.The two accused were seen sipping tea with Thakkar. However, the statement of an employee of a nearby hotel who served tea to those in the workshop at around 4 pm was the key evidence. Also, the statement of a printing press owner who had seen the accused close the shutter of the workshop and lock it around 5 pm, was crucial in the case.In 2015, a trial court sentenced the duo to life imprisonment for murder.Later, they filed an appeal which came up for hearing before the bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale.The Additional Government Pleader in the case, SS Kaushik, took the court through the testimonies of 14 witnesses and submitted that the prosecution had established all incriminating evidence against the appellants by reliable and cogent evidence.Kaushik submitted, "The circumstances so proved by the prosecution form a chain of events so complete that there can be no other hypothesis other than the guilt of the appellants."The bench opined that the sessions court judgment "is a well-reasoned and legally sound decision".advertisementIt further stated, "The observations of the trial court pertaining to the last seen theory and the reliability of the statements of the witnesses examined, the corroborated evidence etc. are compelling and do not warrant any interference."The appeal against the trial court's order of life sentence to the two accused was then dismissed.
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