Mohsin Shaikh Murder Case: Hindu Rashtra Sena leaders Dhananjay Desai, others accused acquitted

A Pune sessions court on Friday acquitted Hindu Rashtra Sena leader Dhananjay Desai and 19 others in a case over the murder of an IT professional in 2014.

According to the police charge sheet, Mohsin Shaikh was killed by a mob, which was on a rampage over a morphed social media picture of warrior king Shivaji and late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. Shaikh, then 28 years old, was returning home with a friend after prayers when he was singled out by the mob and attacked with hockey sticks and cricket bats, the police had said. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

While Desai was not present among the mob that attacked Shaikh, police officials claimed that it was his speeches that led to the violence.

On Friday, additional sessions court judge SB Salunke acquitted Desai and the others saying that the evidence was not strong enough to convict them and that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. Shaikh's murder had triggered an uproar, which led the then Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to promise a strong case. But his decision to appoint special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam ended up in another controversy, with Congress leaders opposing Nikam claiming that he was in cahoots with the right wing. Nikam later withdrew his name from the case.