Thane, March 26 A Thane court has sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the murder of an 84-year-old man and his caretaker here nearly a decade ago.
Additional Sessions Judge GG Bhansali, in the order passed on March 20, also ordered rigorous imprisonment of seven years on two counts of house trespass and robbery with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt.
"It is clarified that upon completion of life imprisonment, the sentence of 7 years imprisonment shall run concurrently for both offences under sections 397 and 450 of the Indian Penal Code," said the order, a copy of which was made available on Thursday.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the two accused – Prashant Sadashiv Pawar (38) and Atendra alias Ashish Virendra Yadav (29) – after pronouncing them guilty of murdering Sitaram Vallabh Shroff and his caretaker, Santosh Raisingh Lavangare, in May 2016.
Additional Public Prosecutor Rakhi W Pande stated that on May 31, 2016, the accused entered Shroff's flat at Regency Heights in the Brahmand area of Maharashtra's Thane city with the intent to commit robbery.
Pawar, a former caretaker for Shroff, was identified through CCTV footage entering the building with Yadav.
The victims were found in a pool of blood with multiple stab injuries. Medical reports confirmed that Shroff died from a stab injury to the chest, while Lavangare suffered 19 different injuries, including cuts to his neck and face. The accused fled with Rs 25,400 cash, two mobile phones, and an iPad.
As many as 32 prosecution witnesses were examined to prove the charges, Pande said.
The police investigation, which spanned over nine years, relied on technical evidence, including CCTV recordings from the building and nearby hotels, which showed the accused entering and exiting the premises.
A cutter-cum-grinder machine and knives used in the assault were seized from a house in Mumbai's Dharavi area, where the accused were arrested.
The call detail records (CDR) and tower location data also indicated both the accused were at the scene at the time of the offence.
The court convicted both men under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 397 (robbery with attempt to cause death), and 450 (house-trespass).
"It is crystal clear that the death of both victims was homicidal," the judge noted, adding that the nature of the injuries suggested a brutal assault with sharp-edged weapons.
While the defence argued that the accused were falsely implicated due to family property disputes, the court rejected these claims, citing the complete chain of evidence established by the prosecution.
Both convicts have been in jail since their arrest on June 2, 2016.