HC sets free 3 men convicted of killing priest in 2012, cites 3 reasons

HC said there was lack of conclusive evidence against the accused, while questioning prosecution’s case.

The Bombay high court on Thursday set free three persons convicted for killing a 90-year-old priest from Chembur, attempting to kill his 79-year-old wife and robbing the aged couple of valuables.

Bombay high court has set aside the conviction of the three accused in 2012 murder case. (HT Photo)

As per the prosecution’s case, the trio-- Mohmmed Intekhab Mohammed Imtiyaz Shaikh (28), Ganesh or Gopal Kanojiya (28) and Mohammed Istiyak Abdul Salam Shah (31) -- had on April 12, 2012, visited the house of the victims—90-years-old priest KS Parshuraman and his wife Rajamma (79)-- at Chembur for the purpose of repairing their refrigerator.

The next day they visited the flat in the afternoon under the guise of handing over a bill for the payment made by them. After Rajamma opened the door, one of them demanded water, and as she turned to fetch water for him, she was followed by one of them. He gagged her mouth in the kitchen with a piece of cloth and the 79-year-old woman fell unconscious.

About two hours later when she regained consciousness, she found her husband motionless on the sofa. She then called her brother, who rushed to the flat and took her to a private hospital where she had to be admitted for two days.

Her husband was strangulated and had died on the spot.

The couple had lost some gold ornaments in the robbery - four golden bangles of 10 grams each and Rajamma’s mangalsutra, a pendant of about 28 grams.

Ganesh was the first to be arrested by the Mumbai police crime branch in connection with the murder of the aged priest and the robbery at his residence. He was apprehended at Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh on September 22, 2012. The other two were from Darbhanga in Bihar.

The prosecution produced 19 witnesses and on August 22, 2014, an additional sessions judge at Mumbai convicted them for robbery, murder and attempt to murder, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

All of them appealed before the HC questioning the trial court verdict.

At HC, the division bench of justice Sadhana Jadhav and justice NJ Jamadar found that the conviction was unsustainable in the eyes of law due to lack of clinching evidence against the trio.

The bench noted that Rajamma had weak eyesight and she could not identify the accused in the test identification parade and in the court as well.

“The complicity of the accused in the present case firstly fails for want of identification by P.W. 1 (Rajamma),” the bench said while reversing the trial court verdict.

All the booty allegedly looted by the gang was lying in Mumbai -- in travel bags kept in the shanties that the trio shared with others in Baiganwadi area, but the three were arrested from UP and Bihar. “It is surprising that all the three accused had left the stolen articles in Mumbai and fled to their native villages,” said the bench, indirectly raising suspicion about the prosecution’s claims.

The judges were also surprised by the claim made by two roommates of two of the accused that they had revealed that they were going to their native places, as they had committed the robbery and the murder. HC said, it was surprising that none of the roommates came forward to report the matter to police till the time the accused were arrested in connection with the case.