Man awarded death sentence for murder of ex-boss’s son in Mumbai

Shaikh committed the crime in a bid to take revenge for being fired, said the police.

The sessions court on Wednesday awarded a death sentence to one Imtiaz Shaikh for kidnapping and killing his former employer, Rajesh Bhangde’s 12-year-old son in 2012. His accomplice, Azad Ansari, has been sentenced to life imprisonment till death. The accused also made several calls to Bhangde demanding a ransom of ₹25 lakh.

As per the post mortem report, Shree’s rib bones were broken, which damaged the lungs and caused his death. (Representational photo)

Bhangde owns a cloth embroidery shop and had hired the two accused. However, the prime conspirator, Shaikh, had been fired from the job a few months before the incident.

Shaikh committed the crime in a bid to take revenge, said the police. While the prosecution could not determine in record the exact time of death, it proved that the accused had killed the boy and dumped his body in a manhole in Bhiwandi.

On May 27, 2012 Bhangde had gone out on a trip to Ajmer when Ansari kidnapped the victim, Shree, from the shop by luring him with ice candy. Ansari and Shaikh then took him to Bhiwandi, where he was kept in the house of one Shakil Ali. That night, Shree’s family members lodged a missing person’s complaint with the Shahu Nagar police station.

The public prosecutor, Mohan Sawant, on Wednesday demanded maximum punishment for the accused, contending that the boy was killed brutally. As per the post mortem report, Shree’s rib bones were broken, which damaged the lungs and caused his death. The defence lawyers, however, had sought leniency contending that both the convicts are young.