Deported gangster, 7 others acquitted

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Friday acquitted eight persons accused of conspiring to carry out a murder at the city civil and sessions court in 2011 and helping a murder accused flee. Soon after the verdict, Sardar Suleman Khan (35), one of the acquitted, broke down. Judge RR Kakaani then remarked, "Injustice has been done."
Following the incident in 2011, several security measures were adopted on the court premises with personnel being deployed at entry and exit points and bag scanners and metal detectors being installed.
Those acquitted include Sanjay Jadhav (28), Ramakant Kulkarni (23), Sunil Varma (32), Sunny Navie (23) and Karan Bagul (20). The court also acquitted deported gangster, Santosh Shetty, who the prosecution alleged, had orchestrated the plan, and in-custody gangster Devendra Jagtap (32), who was supposed to flee.
Jagtap was in judicial custody in connection with the murder of advocate Shahid Azmi and was brought to court for a hearing on April 8, 2011. The prosecution alleged that Kulkarni, Bagul, Navie and Varma entered the court with a fully-loaded pistol and chilli powder. The accused also allegedly wanted to bump off an accused in the Malegaon 2006 blasts case. The police had kept a close watch on those who came to meet Jagtap in court and nabbed them when they found them signaling to each other. Shetty's name cropped up later as a mail sent to a reporter claiming responsibility for the act, came to light. Jadhav and Khan were arrested for allegedly supplying the weapons.
The prosecution had examined 15 witnesses in the case. Jagtap said he was falsely implicated in the case after MCOCA charges against him were dropped in the Azmi murder case.