The convicts have also been fined Rs.2,500 each in all the three convictions, failing which they will have to spend seven days more rigorous time in jail.
The court of the additional sessions judge, Thane convicted and sentenced to life sentence the three men who brutally murdered their friend to rob him of his gold ornaments in November 2016. The deceased identified as- Shivshankar Chaurasiya alias Nikku (23) was the son of a well-known paanwala in Bandra.
According to the police they had recovered a battered body from the bushes adjacent to the highway in Kashimira on November- 23, 2016 which was later identified as Nikku, on the virtue of a missing persons complaint registered at the Bandra police station matching the age group of the deceased.
The Mumbai-based family had identified the body based on the tattoo marks as the head and face had been bashed with stones. An offence under sections 302 (murder), 394(voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC was registered at the Kashimira police station against the unidentified assailants. Investigations by the crime branch unit led to the arrest of Kamlesh Rajdev Sahani (26), Rupesh Rambhu Sah (25) and Mantu Ramadhar Patel (30) from their respective hometowns in Bihar. While in Bihar the police personnel went undercover and disguised themselves to track down the killers who were holed up in their hideouts.
The trio had met Nikku and spiked his liquor during a binge session in Bandra. When he lost consciousness, they put him in a cab and travelled to Kashimira. After alighting from the can near the crime scene, they brutally murdered him by repeatedly smashing his head and face with stones before decamping with gold ornaments including chains, bracelet and rings-worth around Rs.3 lakh which he was wearing and also Rs. 10,000 cash from his wallet.
Supported by cogent evidences and credible testimonies a team led by senior police inspector-Rajendra Kamble under the supervision of DCP-Prakash Gaikwad ensured a watertight case worthy of credence for the prosecution lawyer-Varsha Chandane to establish her point beyond reasonable doubt. Apart from life imprisonment for murder, additional sessions judge- Mrs. V.L.Bhosale also sentenced three and ten years rigorous imprisonment after finding the convicts guilty for the offence under section 201 and 394 of the IPC respectively.
The convicts have also been fined Rs.2,500 each in all the three convictions, failing which they will have to spend seven days more rigorous time in jail. All the sentences shall run concurrently.