Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A local court on Monday sentenced two persons to life imprisonment for the murder of notorious criminal Jitu Thakur inside Mhow sub-jail in January 2007, while three others, including Yuvraj Ustad, were acquitted. There were 93 witnesses in this case out of which 77 turned hostile.
In this case, Yuvraj Ustad, Yashwant and Karan who were accused of shooting and killing Jitu Thakur were acquitted, while Vikky and Ashok Maratha, facing similar charges, were handed life terms. Accused Maratha died during the course of the trial.
Senior advocate Avinash Sirpurkar appeared on behalf of Yuvraj Ustad while AGP Gajraj Singh Solanki represented the prosecution.
The murder incident
Jitu Thakur was killed on January 23, 2007, at around 7 am inside the Mhow sub-jail, when at least five unidentified persons barged into the prison, started firing indiscriminately. At the time of the incident, Thakur was inside the jail's meeting room and was talking to visitors Rajendra Bhar and Ajay Sharma while
head constable Hari Prasad Sharma was on duty.
The assailants barged into the room and shot Jitu Thakur on his head and injured Rajendra, Ajay and head constable Sharma and then escaped with an inmate Ashok Maratha. All the injured were taken to Madhya Bharat Hospital where Jitu Thakur died during treatment.
Jitu Thakur was accused of killing Vishnu Ustad, the father of Yuvraj Ustad and Thakur's murder was seen as a revenge killing.
Yuvraj was in Maharashtra jail at the time of murder
Avinash Sirpurkar said that Yuvraj had nothing to do with the murder as on the day of Thakur's killing he was in a jail in Maharashtra in connection with another case. The court accepted the argument and the proofs and acquitted Yuvraj.
Eyewitness jail staff also turned hostile
Among the witnesses of the incident, the jail personnel present on the spot also turned hostile. Sub-jail constables Hariprasad and Shailendra Singh Chandel, who were injured in the shooting, also turned hostile. Hariprasad said in the statement that he was entering the register at the time of the shooting. Suddenly gunshots were heard and a bullet hit him and he could see no one. The rest of the guards also could not say who fired the bullets.
