Mumbai: Two sentenced to life imprisonment for killing man on local train, robbing him

The police subsequently claimed to have arrested the two accused based on CCTV footage of Mansarovar station

TWO MEN were sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court for killing a man on a local train in 2014. The court also found the two accused guilty of robbery. According to the prosecution, on June 12, 2014, the victim, Tushar Jadhav, was travelling in the luggage compartment of the Panvel to Thane trans-harbour train. Around 5.15 am, Jadhav was attacked by two accused — Jayanta Som and Madhav Sarkar — with an intent to rob him. A police constable guarding the ladies compartment of the train heard cries for help while the train was moving. He alighted at Ghansoli station and found a man in an injured state attempting to get down from the luggage compartment. The victim succumbed to his injuries before the train reached Thane railway station. His was identified through his ATM card and a case of murder was registered at Vashi railway police station.

The police subsequently claimed to have arrested the two accused based on CCTV footage of Mansarovar station where they are seen entering the station and exiting it at Ghansoli. The police also claimed that bloodstained clothes were found with the accused and the murder weapon, a knife, was found lying in the luggage compartment.

The prosecution examined 13 witnesses, including the police constable who had found the victim, medical officers and others. The medical officers submitted that the injuries were caused due to stabbing and could not have been caused due to an accident. The shopkeeper from whom Som had allegedly bought the knife was also examined as a prosecution witness and he identified the accused.

The accused both in their early 20s pleaded for leniency on the ground that they were young and without any criminal antecedents. The court ruled that while there was no direct evidence in terms of eyewitnesses, the prosecution had proven that Som and Sarkar had committed the murder with intent to rob the victim.