Special court closes evidence in 2012 murder case against Vijay Palande

Palande had earlier sought to examine a journalist, forensic officials and police officers as witnesses in his defence, raising questions over the prosecution’s handling of DNA evidence and aspects of the investigation

MUMBAI: A special court on Saturday closed evidence in a 2012 murder case against alleged serial killer and conman Vijay Palande and moved the trial to final arguments, after Palande said that he did not wish to lead any defence evidence.

VIJAY PALANDE (HT PHOTO)

Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002 for the murder of Juhu resident Swaraj Ranjan Das, Palande is currently in judicial custody and represents himself in court.

The present case against him stems from the recovery of a human skull and bones near Chiplun in 2012 during investigation into the murder of an aspiring film producer, Karan Kakkad, in which Palande is the main accused. DNA reports showed that while the torso recovered from the area belonged to Kakkad, the skull was not his, leading to the registration of a fresh murder case against Palande and his associates.

Palande had earlier sought to examine a journalist, forensic officials and police officers as witnesses in his defence, raising questions over the prosecution’s handling of DNA evidence and aspects of the investigation. His proposed witnesses included officials from the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories and the senior police inspector and the police inspector (administration) of Oshiwara police station from April 14-17, 2012.

However, on Saturday when Palande was produced before the special court, he did not press his application and informed the court that he did not wish to examine any defence evidence. The court therefore closed the evidence stage and adjourned the matter for final arguments on September 7.