Three persons were Thursday acquitted in a murder, attempt to murder and robbery case by a local court in Maharashtra's Thane district.
Principal District Judge Virendra G Bisht acquitted Juber Ahmed Barkhatali Khan (21), Salman Aminuddin Shaikh (27) and Salman Abdul Khalid Khan (23) in a case pertaining to the killing of one Ranjit Girase, injuring Akash Jadhav, and robbing them.
While Juber is a truck cleaner, Salman is a welder and Khalid works as a plumber.
On August 1, 2015, Girase, Jadhav and another person were heading towards Mumbra here on a motorcycle when they stopped their vehicle by the roadside around 1:15 am as one of them took ill, the prosecution said.
The three accused allegedly came to the spot and robbed them of cash and a gold chain and stabbed Girase to death and injured Jadhav, it added.
However, defence counsels Anil Joshi, M I Shaikh and Ashraf Shaikh challenged the police's version, pointing out to lapses in the investigation, including conducting the identification parade in an improper manner, and also that the three accused were arrested based merely on suspicion.
Judge Bisht, while acquitting the three, said, "There is no other direct, cogent and clinching evidence on record to connect the accused to the crime.
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