Pune: The court of principal sessions judge Mahendra K Mahajan has convicted and sentenced two accused to life imprisonment for the murder of Sagar Shivaji Shinde (31), a real estate agent, on Karve Road on Feb 23, 2016.The court also imposed a fine of Rs 27,000 on the two convicts – Sanjay Anant Mohol (39) and Sambhaji Sadashiv Kamble (27) – after holding them guilty for offences under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.According to the case put up by district govt pleader Pramod Bombatkar, more than a year before the daylight murder on the busy street, Shinde and his aides had assaulted Mohol in front of a woman residing in Shinde’s building over an illicit affair between the two. Shinde had also warned Kamble against remaining in company with Mohol. Nursing a grudge over this, the duo decided to eliminate Shinde, the prosecution submitted.Judge Mahajan relied on the victim’s dying declaration in which he named the two assailants while being taken to a hospital, besides the testimony by two eyewitnesses, who identified the assailants before the court, and also the medical practitioners who had treated the assailants for minor injuries they had suffered during the attack carried out with a chopper and sharp weapons.The court further relied on the medical evidence, deposition by the doctors who treated the victim, CCTV camera footage of the incident and evidence recorded by a total of 18 witnesses. Based on the same, the court held that the prosecution proved the charge of murder beyond reasonable doubt.The court observed that delay in recording statements was not sufficient to discard otherwise reliable evidence by the two eyewitnesses. The court also accepted the dying declaration made by Shinde to his father while being taken to hospital, noting that medical evidence did not rule out the possibility of the victim being in a position to speak.
