Mumbai: A special court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for knocking down an assistant sub inspector attached to Kherwadi police station in 2012 when he tried to stop them while they were making away with a Honda Desire car they had just robbed from a driver of a travel firm.
The policeman Dattu Sarnobat had sustained an injury on the back of his head due to the fall and had immediately lost consciousness. He had succumbed to the injury, which was found to be brain damage, 15 days after the incident. During the period, he had not come back to consciousness.
The incident had taken place around 3 am on Aug 31, 2012, when Sarnobat and his two colleagues - Kherwadi police station’s mobile van driver Chandrakant Shinde and policeman Prakash Barve were on patrolling duty. They were proceeding on the Bandra Railway Bridge when they noticed a white Indica car and a red Honda Desire parked on the side, while a man was standing outside. They found the cars suspicious. ASI Sarnobat had asked Shinde to stop their vehicle in front of the red car. Then, Barve and he were proceeding towards the red car, when the person driving it, swung it into motion and knocked down Sarnobat, speeding away with three other accomplices in the car. The police asked the man standing at the spot. He had said that he was the driver of the red car and had been robbed of the car by sword-yielding men who came in the Indica when he returned to his car after attending nature’s call.
The court said it is clear that the accused came with a premeditated mind to the spot by the Indica. After the robbery, it said, they had driven the car towards Sarnobat knowing that if he had not been thrown away by the impact, he would have been crushed under the car. “It is clear that the accused persons have acted in a cruel manner,” it said. It added that the prosecution had proved that the accused were present in the car and the car had knocked down a police officer who had tried to restrain them when they were committing robbery and due to this, he had lost his life. It said considering this, it would not be just to show them leniency. The court also imposed a fine of over Rs. 16 lakhs on each of the trio.
