A sessions court today convicted a man for abduction and murder of a 13-year-old boy four years ago, but acquitted the victim's cousin due to lack of evidence.
Principal sessions court Judge S Agarwal convicted Vijesh Sanghvi for abducting and killing Aditya Ranka, a south Mumbai resident, on May 13, 2013.
According to the prosecution, the conspiracy to kidnap and kill the boy was hatched by Aditya's cousin Himanshu Ranka to pay off a Rs 10 lakh debt he had incurred due to betting on IPL matches.
The sessions court judge while convicting Sanghvi held that the prosecution has managed to prove its case.
However, the court acquitted Himanshu Ranka after observing that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The court said it would hear arguments on sentencing of Sanghvi tomorrow.
According to the police, Himanshu was aware that his uncle and Aditya's father Jitendra Ranka, a diamond merchant, was to receive Rs 30 lakh on the day of the incident.
It ws alleged Himanshu then took Aditya on a joy ride and handed him over to Sanghvi. Later Himanshu returned and stayed home with his uncle to avoid suspicion.
When Jitendra received the ransom call, the family approached the V P Road police station.
When the case was transferred to crime branch, Himanshu panicked and called Sanghvi. The duo later allegedly decided to kill the boy and dumped his body at Panvel.
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