81-year-old man found by Mumbai Police 48 years after murder bid acquitted

Main witness says she does not remember incident.

The man had jumped bail and remained absconding for 48 years before being traced to Ratnagiri.

A Mumbai court acquitted an 81-year-old man in a 1977 attempt-to-murder case after the victim said she no longer remembered the incident.

A sessions court on Thursday acquitted an 81-year-old man arrested by the Mumbai Police in an attempt to murder case in October this year, 48 years after he jumped bail and absconded.

In 1977, the Colaba Police named Chandrakant Kalekar as an accused for allegedly attacking his then girlfriend with a knife after a quarrel between them over his suspicion that she was being friendly with someone else. Kalekar was granted bail in the case at that time but had escaped, following which a non-bailable warrant was issued against him in 1984. The case had then become a dormant file.

In October, the police traced Kalekar, after finding his record on voters’ lists and other documents and based on intelligence inputs, to a village in Ratnagiri district.

During the two-month long trial before him in the sessions court, the police managed to trace the victim in the case and brought her as a witness but she refused to support the prosecution’s case. She told the court that in 1977, she was working in an accounts office in Fort.

“She does not remember the incident that happened with her in 1977. She does not know accused. Resultantly, the star witnesses left loyalty towards prosecution. Therefore, the evidence against accused is insufficient to prove the charges levelled against him. Hence, I have no hesitation to hold that the prosecution failed to prove the charge against accused and accused is entitled to be acquitted,” said additional sessions judge.

Kalekar was acquitted of the attempt to murder charge (Section 307) of the Indian Penal Code. He was granted bail a few days after his arrest, with the court considering his advanced age as a ground to grant him relief.

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