Gulshan Kumar murder: HC upholds life term to convict Abdul Rauf Daood Merchant

A division bench of justices Sadhana Jadhav and Amit Borkar also reversed the acquittal of Abdul Rashid Daood Merchant and sentenced him to life imprisonment for the charges of conspiracy and murder

The Bombay high court on Thursday dismissed the appeal filed by fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s henchman Abdul Rauf Daood Merchant challenging his conviction and the life term handed down to him in connection with August 1997 murder of T-Series founder and Hindi film producer Gulshan Kumar.

Gulshan Kumar. (File photo)

A division bench of justices Sadhana Jadhav and Amit Borkar also reversed the acquittal of Abdul Rashid Daood Merchant and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the same case on charges of conspiracy and murder.

The bench directed Abdul Rashid to surrender either before the trial court or before the DN Nagar police station where FIR was registered in connection with the murder. He has also been directed to surrender his passport immediately to the police.The high court directed the trial court to issue a non-bailable warrant and secure Abdul Rashid’s presence for serving the life term.

The court, however, upheld the acquittal of Kumar’s business rival, Ramesh Taurani, who too was prosecuted for being a part of the conspiracy.

Kumar was killed on August 19, 1997, at Juhu. Three assailants pumped 16 bullets in him, killing him on the spot.

In all, 19 persons were arrested in connection with the murder. On April 29, 2002, the Mumbai sessions court acquitted all but Abdul Rauf, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Rauf was absconding for a long time after the murder and was arrested in 2001. In March 2009, he again jumped parole and went to Bangladesh. He was arrested in the neighbouring country at the behest of Indian authorities and was brought back in November 2016.