Cops get govt nod to appeal against Patrawala murder case acquittal

The Patrawala case was one of the many high-profile cases in which the Mumbai Police had failed to nail the alleged perpetrators in court. Following the verdict,serious note was taken of the setback by the force’s top-brass. The Additional Commissioner of Police (West Region) was asked to study the court order and identify loopholes.

“After studying the court’s order,we approached the Law and Judiciary department on whether it was a fit case for appeal,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajnish Seth.

Sources claimed they were confident of a favourable verdict in the higher court,as “there was sufficient evidence on record to prove the role of the accused.”

On January 30 this year,the Sessions Court let off Sujit Nair,Ayush Bhat,Rajeev Dharaiya and Amit Kausha — aged between 25 and 31— as the prosecution failed to prove charges against them. The fifth accused,a juvenile,is also being tried by the Juvenile Justice Board.

According to the prosecution,Patrawala,a 16-year-old son of a businessman in Andheri,was allegedly kidnapped by these five “friends” on August 19,2007 after he went to meet them at the Inorbit Mall in Malad in his father’s Skoda.

After befriending Patrawala through a social networking site,these five allegedly asked him to drive with them to Kandivali,following which they allegedly made him have a spiked drink. After the plan to extort Rs 2 crore as ransom from Patrawala’s family went haywire with news channels flashing the story,the five youngsters strangled him to death in Navi Mumbai as the police had launched a manhunt for them,the prosecution alleged.

Patrawala’s body was subsequently found in his car on Palm Beach Road in Vashi. Charges of kidnap,murder,extortion and destruction of evidence were framed against the five youths on June 2009.

The Sessions Court acquitted the youth as some key witness statements,as well as the identification parade of the accused,failed to inspire confidence. The court quashed the ransom theory,as the police failed to produce records of any such phone calls before it.