A sessions court recently granted bail to Amarendra Mishra, the bodyguard of Mauris Noronha, in connection with the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar. According to police, Mishra’s gun was allegedly used in the crime.
Abhishek, 41, the son of former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Vinod Ghosalkar, was shot dead in Borivali on February 8 during a Facebook Live! event, allegedly by Noronha, 47, who later died by suicide. Mishra was arrested the next day.
While granting bail to Mishra, the court rejected the submissions of Ghosalkar’s family that he was part of a larger conspiracy, and said that his complicity in the murder was highly doubtful.
Abhishek’s wife Tejasvee had claimed that Noronha’s death should also be investigated. She alleged that he too had been murdered and pointed at Mishra’s conduct.
Judge VM Pathade observed: “I do not find any material collected by the investigating agency which would reasonably suggest the complicity of the applicant / accused in the acts, which caused the death of said Abhishek and Noronha, except the facts that at the relevant time he was an armed bodyguard of said Noronha and his firearm is being used in the killing of the said Abhishek and Mauris.”
“It is also difficult to infer / believe that any third person could have caused the death of Ghosalkar and Noronha by using the firearm which belongs to the present applicant accused. The reason stated by the applicant for keeping his pistol in the locker / safe at the said office doesn’t appear to be improbable, particularly when Noronha being his master, he was expected to follow his master’s commands – directions.”
“There is no acceptable material which would demonstrate the presence of the applicant [Mishra] at or near the said place of incident so as to infer his complicity in the said incident, which ultimately resulted in the death of said Abhishek Ghosalkar and Mauris,” the court said.
“From the statement of the informant complainant, who is an eyewitness of the almost entire events that it prima facie appears that at the relevant time Abhishek and Mauris were the only persons present inside the said office and in all probability it was Mauris who attacked Abhishek by firing gun shots at him.”
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