Granted parole, Pallavi Purkayastha murderer may have fled the country

Granted parole, Pallavi Purkayastha murderer may have fled the country

Sajjad Mughal

In a hearing of the sensational Pallavi Purkayastha murder case, the state government told the Bombay High Court that the main accused Sajjad Mughal, who had jumped parole, might have fled the country. The HC has asked the Nashik jail authorities to file a report regarding what efforts have been taken to trace Mughal and why he was granted parole for such a serious offence.

Demand for capital punishment
Justice Ranjit More and GS Kulkarni were hearing an appeal filed by the state government challenging Mughal's life sentence and demanding capital punishment for him. Special public prosecutor Sandeep Shinde told the bench that the investigation of the FIR registered by Nashik jail authorities has led to the suspicion that Mughal might have left the country.

Reply sought
Referring to the government, Justice More said, "Registering an FIR does not end the matter. We need to know what steps have been taken to trace Mughal and also on what grounds a convict of such a serious crime was granted parole." He added, "Convicts jumping parole has become a common thing. Stringent measures should be taken to stop this." The bench said it was ready to monitor the case till Mughal was traced. It asked the Nashik jail authorities to file a reply in the matter and posted the next hearing on December 21.

Dec 21
The date on which the matter would be heard next