Two convicted, given life sentence for killing man to steal his car

The accused had killed a 40-year-old man by poisoning him and running him over with a vehicle on the Vasai highway in 2014.

The Palghar district court on Saturday sentenced two men, Firoz Khan, 38, and Zaheer Khan, 45 to life imprisonment for killing a 40-year-old man by poisoning him and running him over with a vehicle on the Vasai highway in 2014. The district judge Rajendra Majgaonkar also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each.

The third accused was given three years in jail and Rs 50,000 fine. A fourth accused was acquitted owing to lack of evidence. (Representative Image)

The third accused, Ganesh Waghmare, 32, was given three years in jail under section 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Rs 50,000 fine. A fourth accused, Sayeed Khan, 62, was acquitted owing to lack of evidence.

Public prosecutor Deepak Tare said, “A case of murder was registered. The group have committed similar crimes before. The modus operandi of the gang was to steal cars and sell them in other states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh by forging the registration papers.”

The victim, Prakash Shinde, was a Bhiwandi resident and owned a car. On November 27, 2014, the accused hired Shinde to drive them around in his vehicle. When they were on their way to Manor, the accused laced Shinde’s drink with sedatives, said the prosecution.

When Shinde passed out, the accused pushed him out of the car, on to the road. One of the accused then sat behind the wheel and ran over Shinde. The four then sold Shinde’s car in another state.

The four accused were arrested in February 2015. While Khan was let out on bail, the other three were denied bail and lodged at Thane Central Jail.