Thane court acquits two men of murder, says prosecution failed to prove charges

Thane, Jun 27 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has acquitted two men in a 5-year-old murder case, holding that the prosecution could not prove any of the circumstances necessary for conviction based on circumstantial evidence.

In his order of June 19, a copy of which was made available on Friday, Additional Sessions Judge A N Sirsikar gave relief to Rahul Bharat Bhise (36) and Datta Bhujang Misal (39), who had been in judicial custody since their arrest soon after the crime.

The body of one Sagar Das with injuries was recovered in the Kashimira area in Thane district on September 28, 2019. The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, arguing that Bhise and Misal were last seen with him as the three had liquor the previous night. The victim’s bloodstained clothes were recovered from the house of Bhise, it said.

However, Judge Sirsikar said these links in the chain of circumstances were not convincingly proved.

The court said that prosecution witnesses, including Das’s wife, mother-in-law and a neighbour, did not support the prosecution’s version.

Though the prosecution produced CCTV footage showing the second accused allegedly purchasing liquor near the time of the incident, the footage was not shown to witnesses who could identify the accused, the court said.

Moreover, the chemical analysis of the bloodstains found on Bhise’s pants did not aid the prosecution. “The blood group of the deceased could not be ascertained,” the judge said.

The court also said that Das had a criminal past and had strained relations with several people.

“Therefore, the possibility that somebody else might have committed the murder cannot be totally ruled out,” said Judge Sirsikar, acquitting the two accused. PTI COR NR