Thane: Court acquits 2 persons in murder case

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A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted two persons accused in a 2018 murder case, giving them the benefit of doubt.

Additional Sessions Judge A N Sirsikar in the order passed on December 19 held the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the two accused - Abhishek Kaliram Joshi (30) and Mogesh Sunil Mhatre (29).

A copy of the order was made available on Monday.

The prosecution told the court that accused Mogesh Sunil Mhatre and his cousin Pankaj Mhatre, residents of Bhiwandi area here, had a domestic dispute since long.

On March 5, 2018, the two accused allegedly killed Pankaj Mhatre, the prosecution said.

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However, defence advocate Vishal Bhanushali contested the case and opposed all the charges against the accused persons.

A total of seven witnesses were examined by the prosecution.

After hearing both the sides, the judge said, "All the above witnesses have not supported the prosecution case. They have denied the fact of witnessing of the incidence. Some of them have denied presence of the accused on the spot. Therefore, their evidence is not helpful to the prosecution in any way."

The prosecution has not proved contents of the CCTV footage collected by the investigation officer. Even the script of the CCTV footage is not filed on record, the court observed.

"As per version of the informant, the deceased in the hospital told her the names of the assailants. It means he was in a position to talk, but still no effort was made for recording his dying declaration," it said.

There is no other witness to prove that the accused in furtherance of their common intention committed the murder of Pankaj Mhatre, the judge noted in the order.

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