Panaji: The Bombay high court on Thursday set aside a sessions court verdict and acquitted Arjuna Kazidoni in the 2020 Fatorda double murder case, granting him the benefit of doubt in the deaths of Ravi Badiger and Bhimsi Gasti.Kazidoni had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Oct 2024 for allegedly killing the two men with empty liquor bottles and laterite stones after consuming alcohol.Counsel Rohan Desai said the prosecution’s case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence, and noted that a witness died while the trial was pending.A South Goa additional sessions court had earlier held Kazidoni guilty of murdering Badiger and Gasti and attempting to murder a third man, Sunil Sawant, in an incident that took place behind the income tax office at Old Market, Margao, in Feb 2020. Prosecutors alleged the four men had been drinking at a bar and later gathered near a fire to keep warm and fell asleep. Kazidoni allegedly woke the others and demanded more alcohol, and when told there was none, attacked Gasti and Badiger, leading to their deaths.The prosecution further alleged that Kazidoni later demanded money from Sawant for alcohol and assaulted him with an empty bottle, causing head injuries, before throwing a stone at him. Sawant escaped by pretending to be unconscious, after which Kazidoni fled, believing him to be dead.
