Sessions Court grants bail to Amrendra Mishra

Sessions court grants bail to Amrendra Mishra, bodyguard whose gun was used in killing Shiv Sena corporator. Court doubts his complicity in the murder.

MUMBAI: The sessions court granted bail to Amrendra Mishra, an armed bodyguard whose gun was used by his deceased employer, Mauris Noronha aka Mauris Bhai, for allegedly killing Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar.

Sessions Court grants bail to Amrendra Mishra

Additional sessions judge VM Pathade granted bail to the 44-year-old observing that “his complicity in the commission of offence punishable under Section 302 (murder) IPC was highly doubtful.”

“There is no acceptable material which would demonstrate the presence of the applicant accused at or near the said place of incident to infer his complicity in the said incident which ultimately resulted in the death of said Abhishek Ghosalkar and Maurice,” said the court.

Ghosalkar, aged 41 and the son of former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Vinod Ghosalkar, was reportedly shot dead because Noronha suspected his involvement in a rape case, according to police reports. The shooting occurred on February 8, 2024, in Borivali, during which Ghosalkar was killed by Maurice Noronha, who then used the same pistol to take his own life. The entire incident was live-streamed on Facebook. Mishra, Noronha’s bodyguard, became implicated in the case when it was discovered that the murder weapon belonged to him, a licensed firearm from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

In his bail plea, Mishra stated that he had been instructed to store his firearm in a locker before accompanying Maurice’s personal assistant, Mehul Parekh, to a hospital. Mishra, represented by advocate Ganesh Gole, claimed he was unaware that Maurice had access to the locker’s key and passcode.

The bail plea also noted that the Facebook live-stream clearly showed Mishra was not present at the time of the shooting; Maurice fired the shots and subsequently took his own life.

The plea was opposed both by the state and Ghosalkar’s wife, Tejasvee Ghosalkar. Ghosalkar pointed out that she has already filed a writ petition before the High court seeking the formation of a special investigation team to investigate the murder, thus necessitating Mishra’s custody. In the petition filed at the high court, Ghosalkar also levelled out allegations against Mishra and Mehul Parekh.

After reviewing the FIR and hearing both sides, the court noted the statement of prime eyewitness Lalchand Pancham Pal, who waited for Abhishek outside his office and stated that Maurice was the only one inside the entire time. The court emphasized that there was no evidence implicating Mishra in the deaths of Abhishek Ghosalkar and Maurice Noronha. It pointed out that Mishra was obligated to follow Noronha’s orders as his employee. The court stated that if Mishra was involved in any conspiracy to kill Abhishek Ghosalkar, it could not have resulted in Maurice’s death. Mishra, whose initial bail plea was denied by the sessions court, filed a second plea after the crime branch filed a chargesheet against him. He faces charges under IPC section 302 (murder), as well as various sections of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.