Two sentenced to life term for murder of fruit seller over unpaid loan

Two sentenced to life term for murder of fruit seller over unpaid loan

Thane, A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the murder of a fruit seller in Mira Road area in 2017 over a monetary dispute.

Two sentenced to life term for murder of fruit seller over unpaid loan

Additional Sessions Judge D S Deshmukh also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each on the accused duo Sunilkumar Bituli Rajak from Mira Road and Sudipkumar Raju Ravidas from Jharkhand after finding them guilty of criminal conspiracy and murder.

The court, however, acquitted two other accused, Umesh Raju Ravidas and Ashishkumar Tilak Bhuiya, both from Jharkhand, citing lack of evidence.

Rajak was additionally sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty of the charges under the Arms Act and fined ₹10,000.

As per the prosecution, the incident occurred during the intervening night of April 5 and 6, 2017. The victim, Shamu Lohari Gaud, was shot in the chest at his residence after he opened the door to a person claiming to be a neighbor who had lost his keys.

Additional public prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale examined 25 prosecution witnesses to prove the case against the accused persons.

While the case was based on circumstantial evidence as no witness directly saw the shooter's face, the judge noted that the prosecution successfully established a motive. The victim had reportedly lent over ₹1.5 lakh to Rajak while the latter was in a Jharkhand jail for a previous murder case.

In the 40-page judgment, the court said, "The monetary transaction which was the basis for constituting the motive for commission of crime is fully established."

The accused who have been convicted were in contact that night on mobile phone and their phone location was in the vicinity of residence of the deceased, it said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.