Shop owner freed in bid to murder case

Thane: A snacks shop owner from Vashi in Navi Mumbai has been given the benefit of doubt, and acquitted from charges of attempt to murder, by the Thane district court.
The prosecutor told the court that alleged accused Anthony Nagar had his snacks shop in the same building as that of the victim in Koparkhairne area of Navi Mumbai. The prosecution added that there was a dispute over parking of the vehicles in the building premises between the accused and the victim, due to which, the accused is alleged to have attacked the victim with a sickle on March 16,2011. The defence counsel contended the prosecution version citing lacunas.
Judge PM Gupta in his order noted that the spot of the incident is situated in a crowded market area. Therefore, the said incident must have been witnessed by some other persons apart from the two prosecution witnesses.
However, the prosecution has not examined any other witness except for the family members of the injured to prove the accused guilty. On the contrary, the accused has examined the above referred five witnesses to show that at the time of incident the injured was assaulted by some other persons. The judge further observed, “..in the absence of cogent and reliable evidence, the prosecution failed to prove that at the time of incident, the accused had assaulted the injured by using sickle and thereby attempted to commit his murder.” The judge also noted that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the charges and thus acquitted in the case.