Gujarat: Oil mill owner, former cop among three sentenced to life imprisonment for murder

Rajkot, Jan 30 (PTI) A sessions court in Gujarat's Rajkot city on Thursday sentenced a businessman and two others, including a former policeman, to life imprisonment for the 2016 murder of an oil mill employee.

Rajkot-based businessman Samir Shah, his driver Kripalsinh Chudasama and former assistant sub inspector Yogesh Bhatt were sentenced to life imprisonment by judge SV Sharma for the kidnap and murder of Dinesh Daxini, who was a manager in the Ahmedabad branch of Shah's Rajkot-headquartered oil mill Shree Rajmoti Industries.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on them, while four other employees were acquitted for want of evidence.

The 66-year-old Shah had also served as president of Saurashtra Oil Mill Association (SOMA).

Samir Gandhi, a key accused of the case, turned a 'crown witness' for the prosecution during the trial and helped police in establishing the case against the three others.

Rajkot 'B' division police had registered an FIR after Daxini was brought dead at Rajkot civil hospital on March 1, 2016. The case was registered on the complaint of Daxini's kin.

Daxini was rushed to hospital by Bhatt, who was posted as ASI at Bedipara police chowky at the time.

As per the prosecution, Samir Shah suspected that Daxini, who used to handle the company's affairs in Ahmedabad, had embezzled Rs 65 lakh from the company's accounts.

Shah then asked his Rajkot-based manager Samit Gandhi and driver Kripalsinh Chudasama to go to Ahmedabad and extract money from Daxini.

At Shah's behest, the duo reached Daxini's residence in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2016 and threatened him with serious consequences. They also made him admit in writing that he had siphoned off Rs 65 lakh.

The duo then forced him to sit in their car and brought him to Rajmoti oil mill's premises in Rajkot. As Daxini was not ready to accept the charges levelled against him, he was brutally thrashed by Gandhi and others at the behest of Shah.

Shah then asked his men to hand Daxini over to Bhatt, who was offered Rs 5 lakh by Shah to extract money from Daxini by any means.

As instructed by Shah, Bhatt brutally thrashed Daxini using sticks and plastic pipes at the chowky.

When Daxini's health deteriorated on March 1, he sought Gandhi's help to admit him to hospital. However, Daxini was declared dead on arrival by doctors, after which an FIR was registered.

The trio were nabbed in May 2016 by Rajkot police, while Gandhi was arrested in May 2017.

Gandhi, after serving nearly five years behind bars, turned prosecution witness.

Shah and Chudasama came out on bail in three months.

Bhatt was behind bars when the court pronounced its verdict. PTI PJT PD BNM