MUMBAI: Four years after engineering student Tushar Jadhav (23) died after being attacked in a robbery bid in the luggage compartment of a trans-harbour local, a sessions court has sentenced his two assailants to life imprisonment.
Additional sessions judge Milind V Kurtadikar found Jayanta Som (25) and Madhav Sarkar (26) guilty for murder and committing robbery while armed with a deadly weapon. The West Bengal natives used to work as labourers.
"There is circumstantial evidence on record," the court said, and cited the recovery of bloodstained clothes form the accused, injury marks on Sarkar, a chemical analysis report that blood samples from the clothes matched with the victim's blood, CCTV footage of the accused boarding the local train at Mansarovar station and alighting at Ghansoli station and an FSL (
forensic science laboratory) report showing that the persons appearing on the CCTV footage are the same as on the photographs of the accused.
Jadhav was found by a policeman, who was manning the ladies compartment and heard his screams for help. He died before he could receive medical help. Son of a sales tax officer, Airoli resident Jadhav was studying at an engineering college in
Ratnagiri. He was returning with friends after appearing for his last exam. His friends left him at
Panvel, and he boarded the local train alone.
Thirteen witnesses deposed in the case. One of the key witnesses was constable Balkrishna Modak who was then attached to the railway police,
Vashi. He told the court that on June 11, 2014 he was on night patrol. He submitted that the following morning, around 4.30am, he was on a train from Panvel for Thane. He said that when the train was entering Ghansoli station, around 5.15am he heard someone screaming "bachao, bachao". He said that because of profuse bleeding, the victim became unconscious and died soon after.
Representational image
