E-Paper
Three arrested in 2018 murder case acquitted based on DNA test
Three men who were in judicial custody for around three years for the murder of a man who went missing and was suspected to have been found after two days in August 2018 were acquitted by a court in Baramati
Three men who were in judicial custody for around three years for the murder of a man who went missing and was suspected to have been found after two days in August 2018 were acquitted by a court in Baramati.
The main reason for the acquittal was that the body found in the case did not have a head and did not match the DNA of the parents of the man who was initially reported as missing.
The order was issued by RR Rathi, additional sessions judge, Baramati while SB Ohol was the public prosecutor and advocate Milind Pawar was the defence lawyer.
The missing man, suspected to have been found, was identified as Bhimashankar Anture, a resident of Loni Kalbhor who was reported missing by his family on August 19, 2018, a day after he left allegedly in search of a job.
The three acquitted were identified as Keshav Sopan Kalbhor (38), Haridas Namdeo Shendge (34), Prashant Walchand Jagtap (26), according to the court order.
The three were arrested in 2018 after a body without its head was found in the jurisdiction of Daund police station on August 23 of that year. A case under Sections 302 (murder), 201(destruction of evidence), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Daund police station against them.
“During investigation, the police prepared a spot panchanama, inquest panchanama, obtained PM report, recorded the statements of the witnesses, sent the muddemal for chemical analysis, conducted the DNA analysis of the dead body with his alleged parents, obtained the CDR report of the accused and the deceased and on completion of investigation they found sufficient material against the accused, and so filed a charge sheet against the accused under the aforesaid sections,” reads a part of the order.
The family members had identified the decapitated body based on the grown nail on one hand of the body and the undergarments worn by the man when last seen. Along with the parents’ identification, the police had submitted call records of deceased and the accused, 10 witness statements, panchanama of the vehicle, a motorbike, and the weapon, an axe, allegedly used in the crime.
While the body was allegedly thrown in the Bhima river, the head was thrown in a canal in Boriandi, according to the police. The defence had asked for a DNA test to prove the identity.
“The DNA of that dead body was examined with the DNA of Sumitra Kalappa Atnure and Kalappa Atnure, but on record, the DNA report exh.138 shows that Sumitra Kalappa Atnure and Kalappa Atnure are not the biological parents of that dead body,” reads a part of the order.
The judge, therefore, ruled that the prosecution had “utterly failed” to prove the police case.
The judge, therefore, acquitted them and has asked each of the three to pay ₹15,000 as surety and ₹15,000 as a personal bond in order to be released from prison.
