Mumbai: A sessions court in Dindoshi on Thursday sentenced four men to life imprisonment for the 2014 brutal attack on Shiv Sena local leader from Malad Ramesh Jadhav, that led to his death. The men had turned on him with lethal weapons when he had intervened as they were attacking three of his neighbours.
Those sentenced are - Sohail Ansari, 27, Yusufali Sajida, 47, Imran Kazi, 38, Gullu Sajida, 44. A fifth person arrested in the case was found to be a minor and hence the trial against him was separated. The mother of Imran Kazi - Ruksana Kazi, also stood trial for disappearance of evidence in the crime. The court acquitted her of the offence.
Jadhav was attacked when he had tried to intervene when the five persons were attacking his three neighbours, including a woman. Jadhav’s brother had seen the attack and tried to intervene, but they had started assaulting him. Then, he had called Jadhav and the Shiv Sena gat pramukh had come down from his home to intervene. As per the Dindoshi police station’s case, the men had dragged him, pinned him against a wall and then stabbed him with weapons such as a sword and gupti. He had succumbed to injuries before he could be reached to the hospital.
Special Public Prosecutor Avinash Rasal said the prosecution examined 20 witnesses in the case, including eye-witnesses. Advocate Kaushik Mhatre who assisted the prosecutor on behalf of Jadhav’s brother - the complainant, said among the eye-witnesses who testified before the court were Jadhav’s brother and two neighbours. The prosecution had also produced CCTV footage before the court, which showed the accused proceeding towards the spot with weapons. The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 21,000 each on all the four.
