High court grants bail to 4 convicted for killing 6-year-old

Four convicts who were jailed for kidnapping and killing six-year-old Raj Agrawal in 2004 were granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Saturday.

Four convicts jailed for kidnapping and killing six-year-old Raj Agrawal in 2004 were granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Saturday.

HT Image

The high court (HC) also suspended the sentences of Syed Aslam Jafar, Syed Akhtar Jafar, Karan Walmiki and Govind Shinde till their appeal against conviction was decided.

Raj was kidnapped on November 13, 2003, on his way to Dadar Parsee Youth Assembly School at Wadala.

The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore, but later reduced it to Rs 5 lakh. On March 7, 2004, the police claimed that they have recovered Raj’s skeleton from Daund village near Pune.

The division bench of Justice J.N. Patel and Justice Amjad Sayed also called for the writ petition filed by Raj’s father Kunjbihari Agrawal who insisted that his son is still alive.

Another petition filed by Walmiki, alleging that he was lured with money and was brutally assaulted to confess his involvement in the case, has also been called for.

The HC has directed the four to furnish sureties of Rs 25,000 each and directed them to visit police station every Monday.

On August 14, the HC had admitted their appeal challenging their life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing Raj. Subhash Kanse, advocate for one of the convicts, said even Kunjbihari still insisted that his son is still alive. Then how could these people be convicted for killing Raj, Kanse asked.

On June 5, a sessions court had sentenced the four, along with three others — Sachin Bunkar, Nadim Shaikh, Surendra Kadam, to life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing Raj.

Three others — Rajendra Bhosle, Sachin alias Balu Latke, Dhanaji alias Bhawadya Hazare — were acquitted for lack of evidence for lack of evidence.