THE BOMBAY High Court recently granted bail to a man arrested for killing an undertrial, who was released from Yerwada jail on provisional parole due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The deceased, Pravin Satyavan More (25), a resident of the area in Rajgad police station jurisdiction was found murdered at Shivare village in Bhor taluka, Pune district. Pune Police had booked four people, including Chandrakant Walgude, for killing More, who was arrested in connection with a murder in 2017 and was released on parole of 45 days in June 2020. A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep K Shinde on November 9 passed an order in the bail plea by Walgude. The prosecution claimed that one Yuvraj Bhilare was murdered in 2017 and More was arrested as a suspect. Thereafter, hostilities increased between Bhilare’s brother Sachin and his friend Datta Lekavale on one hand and More on the other hand. On July 6, 2020, Walgude allegedly called More out of his house on some pretext and thereafter More was allegedly assaulted. The FIR was registered on July 7, 2020, and Walgude was arrested two days later. The court noted the accused was identified in the Test Identification Parade (TIP) seven months after his arrest. Advocate Sana Raees Khan appearing for the applicant raised doubts over the way the TIP was held and said it was not according to the criminal manual. She added Call Data Record ( CDR) was not a substantive piece of evidence. Khan also said that while the applicant is alleged to be the main facilitator and conspirator of the crime, the same is not established. The bench directed Walgude to be released on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 30, 000 and sureties of like amount and asked him to visit the police station twice every month.
