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After 34 years, former gangster Thakur, two others acquitted in TADA case
Pune TADA court acquitted former gangster Jayendra alias Bhai Thakur and his two associates in connection with the murder of builder Suresh Dube
One of the last pending Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) case in the country was decided on Wednesday when a Pune court, after 34 years, acquitted former underworld gangster Jayendra alias Bhai Thakur (70) and his two associates in connection with the murder of builder Suresh Dube.
Dube, a builder and resident of Vasai, was allegedly gunned down on October 9, 1989 at Nalasopara railway station while he was waiting to take a train to Churchgate to book tickets to head to his hometown in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Following the murder, Thakur, a strongman of Vasai-Virar, among others were accused of carrying out the act. Satyanarayan Navandar, Special Judge of Pune TADA court, pronounced their acquittal in an open court proceedings on Wednesday citing “lack of sufficient evidence” in the case to prove the conspiracy to commit a terrorist act. A detailed order has not been made available.
Special public prosecutor Satish Mishra said, “Once we get the detailed order, we will challenge the acquittal in the Supreme Court.”
While acquitting the accused, the designated court made observations that the available evidence was insufficient to bring home the offence punishable under Section 3 of TADA as well as the charge of conspiracy. The court made an observation that the allegations of land grabbing were not at par with the offence of TADA.
Besides Thakur, two others, including Gajanan Patil and Deepak Harishchandra Thakur, were tried for offences punishable under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and TADA, and acquitted in the case. The other two accused Sanjay Kadu and Ananda Padekar died during the trial that stretched on for multiple reasons even as the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government repealed the TADA in mid 1990s.
Initially, following the investigation, local police had filed FIR against 17 persons and during the course of trial six were convicted by the Supreme Court. The trial against Thakur and others was heard by Pune Court having charge of TADA.
The allegations against the persons were that between January 1984 and December 1989, they had committed various offences like land grabbing, kidnapping, extortion, etc. and roamed openly carrying weapons, with the intent to strike terror in the people in Nalasopara, Vasai-Virar region of Mumbai. The murder of Dube was also a part of their criminal activities.
Thakur’s elder brother Hitendra Thakur is president of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi. Ajiv Patil, secretary, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, said that there are no celebrations planned as the case against Thakur and others was false. “The truth has prevailed. The judgment copy would now be studied after we get it,” said Patil.
In the course of Maharashtra’s last lot of TADA cases, about 110 witnesses were examined and the trial went on for about 30 years. The final arguments in the matter went on for more than six months with appearances from advocates Sudeep Pasbola, Sudhir Shah and Rohan Nahar who appeared for the accused.
Advocate Nahar, who represented Gajanan who amongst others was alleged to have hatched the conspiracy with Thakur and aided him in committing the murder of Dube, said, “The court has finally acquitted all the accused and a detailed order is expected soon. Although late, truth has triumphed, and this is a classic case of abuse of process of law. However, I am happy that the accused are finally given a clean chit.”
Initially, the case was investigated by two police officers who the Dube’s lawyer alleged had threatened them against naming Thakur in their complaint for the murder of Dube. The case did not name Thakur and his brothers Hitendra and Deepak Thakur at the time, however, in 1993, when the deputy commissioner of police changed, Dube’s lawyer submitted a written complaint naming Thakur as the perpetrator behind the shooting.
Thereafter, chargesheet was filed against Thakur and others. According to the chargesheet, Thakur had become active in the 1980s following the expansion of Mumbai beyond Dahisar to places like Nalasopara up to Virar. Development of lands and construction of buildings became a lucrative business which led to illegal activity of land grabbing, compulsory sales and forcible possession of lands. These illegal activities were carried out by gangs headed by Thakur, Dube, and Bharat Pendhari since 1980. In 1989, Dube had stopped the illegal activities and, along with his brothers, started land development. However, Thakur allegedly wanted a plot of land which was in Dube’s possession and took forceful possession of it. Later, he threatened Dube of being killed if he did not sign the paper to officially hand over the land to him. Dube remained unmoved, leading to his murder, as alleged in the chargesheet.
