Court acquits accused in 2021 local train murder, cites serious lapses in probe

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Tuesday acquitted Mohd Asif Mohd Firoz Shaikh of murdering fellow commuter Niraj Jaiswar in a local train in 2021, holding that the police had failed to establish a reliable chain of evidence linking him to the crime

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Tuesday acquitted Mohd Asif Mohd Firoz Shaikh of murdering fellow commuter Niraj Jaiswar in a local train in 2021, holding that the police had failed to establish a reliable chain of evidence linking him to the crime.

In a strongly worded judgment, additional sessions judge R S Aradhye said the investigation was beset by serious deficiencies, including questions about the CCTV footage, doubtful recovery of the alleged murder weapon and inconclusive forensic evidence. The court observed that the investigation appeared to have been conducted to implicate the accused rather than establish his involvement in the crime.

Shaikh was arrested in April 2021 for the murder of 30-year-old Jaiswar, whose body was found in a local train that arrived at CSMT on the night of March 29. The police had alleged that Shaikh stabbed Jaiswar while attempting to rob him.

With no eyewitness to the attack, the prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, including CCTV footage from Govandi, Kurla and Dockyard Road railway stations and a tea stall. The police also claimed to have recovered a knife, clothes allegedly worn by Shaikh, and articles belonging to Jaiswar from Shaikh’s brother’s house.

The court found that the footage did not establish that the two men had travelled together. The footage from the three railway stations was not authenticated while the pen drive containing it was unsealed. The footage also did not show Jaiswar boarding a train at Kurla, leaving it unclear which train he had taken.

The footage allegedly showing Shaikh cleaning a knife after the attack was also inconclusive. The forensic examination found no bloodstains on the cloth allegedly used to clean the weapon. The court said that the blood-group analysis of the knife was inconclusive, as the forensic expert could not confirm that the report pertained to the alleged murder weapon, and no DNA report linked it to the crime.

The recovery of the knife itself and other articles was equally doubtful. A witness admitted he was not present when Shaikh allegedly made the disclosure statement leading to the recoveries.

The court further questioned the credibility of panch witnesses, noting that some had participated in preparing panchanamas after the police threatened to penalise them for running businesses without valid licences.

Concluding that the prosecution had failed to establish the chain of circumstances required to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the judge acquitted Shaikh of murder, robbery and related charges.