Man gets life term for killing acquaintance after row over girlfriend

A Mumbai court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the murder of a fellow Kandivali resident in 2014. Sandeep Pandey killed Nitesh Yadav as he believed Yadav was attempting to get close to his girlfriend. Pandey denied the allegations, claiming he was falsely implicated, but eyewitness accounts led to his conviction.

MUMBAI: The sessions court has sentenced a Kandivali resident to life imprisonment for stabbing to death a resident of the same locality in 2014 as he felt the latter was trying to get close to his girlfriend.

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Sandeep Pandey was just 21 years old when he was booked for murdering Nitesh Yadav, on July 16, 2014. Prosecution had claimed that Sandeep and Nitesh knew each other well but the friendship had strained after the former felt that the latter was trying to get close to his girlfriend, who was also a resident Kandivali.

Sandeep, however, had denied the allegations and claimed that he was falsely implicated. He said that in June 2014, he had been to Assam and that his wife had passed away in 2013. He said that he returned to Mumbai to work as a security guard.

Sandeep had claimed that some boys used to consume liquor and smoke narcotic substances near the building where he worked as security guard. He claimed that he had complained to the chairman of the society and therefore the boys had got him booked in a false case.

The court, however, held Sandeep guilty based on eyewitness accounts.

Nitesh had dropped out of college after Class 12 to join his father’s business dealing with Indian spices. His brother, Ajay, the complainant in the case and an eyewitness to the incident, had claimed that Nitesh had said he had stopped interacting with Sandeep, as the latter had once scolded him and there had been arguments between them on a couple of occasions.

Pradeep Yadav, Nitesh’s friend, told the court that on the day of incident, he along with Nitesh, and others were standing near a local paan shop when Sandeep arrived around 4:15 pm and held Nitesh by his shirt. Pradeep told the court that Sandeep confronted Nitesh seeking to know if he had abused his girlfriend.

Pradeep said that Nitesh replied that he had neither met her nor spoken to her. An angry Sandeep then stabbed Nitesh with a knife he had brought along. Hearing Nitesh’s cries for help, Ajay and his family members rushed to the spot. Ajay told the court that when they confronted Sandeep, he admitted that he stabbed Nitesh because of his growing proximity to his girlfriend.

Sandeep also claimed that on the day of the alleged incident, he was on his way to his native place when a police jeep arrived, and he was taken to Kurar Police station. Sandeep claimed he was then forced to sign three to four papers and was put in a lockup. He stated that a false report and false chargesheet were filed against him so as to implicate him.