Thane court acquits 12 in murder of jewellery shop employee

Thane, Jun 19 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has acquitted 12 persons allegedly involved in the murder of a jewellery shop employee two years ago, observing that the prosecution could not prove the charges against them.

In his order, the Additional Sessions Judge AS Bhagwat gave the benefit of doubt to the dozen accused, who had also been booked under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

A copy of the order dated June 14 was made available on Wednesday.

According to the prosecution, victim Krushna Padaram Tusamand (30) was a sweeper in a jewellery shop in the Bhayander area.

On May 7, 2022, the shop owner and other accused tied Tusamand to a window and brutally thrashed him on suspicion of theft. Tusamand died due to the assault, the prosecution said.

On a complaint by Tusamand’s father, the police booked the jewellery shop owner and 11 others for murder.

While advocates Rajan Salunke and Sameer Hatle who represented the accused contested the charges pressed against their clients, 12 prosecution witnesses turned hostile during the trial.

In his order, the judge relied on Tusamand’s post-mortem report, which said that the injuries suffered by the victim might have been due to a fall from a moving vehicle, to give relief to the accused.

Pointing to gaps in the prosecution’s theory, the court said it could not prove the seizure of the weapons from the accused, while one of the investigation officers was not examined. The prosecution also could not prove that the victim belonged to the SC or ST category, the court said. PTI COR NR