6 web series, movies, 3 books, online news of murder & cartoons drawn in diares, lead to probe

--Shifted from correctional home to Harsul jail

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The murderer of Prof Dr Rajan Haribhau Shinde (45) was sent to Harsul jail from the correctional home on Wednesday evening, after charges were proved against him. Even though he was a minor, the police proved that it was a brutal murder.

The web series, movies, cartoons, and horror story books that the killer watched and read before the murder, the witness of 71 people and the digital evidence of the killer's journey after the murder, helped in the investigation and the killer was punished after 1521 days of the murder.

Shinde's murder on October 11, 2021, had become a topic of discussion across the State. The murder remained a mystery for nine days after the incident. The killer brutally murdered Shinde with dumbbells and a knife.

Moreover, he tried a lot to destroy the evidence by observing the provisions of the law, watching web series, movies, three books, cartoons drawn in diaries, reading news about the murder on the internet, and studying horror story books.

However, the consistency in the probe by the enquiry officers and searching for strong evidence led to the conclusion that the child committed the murder. Since he was a minor, he was sent to a correctional home. However, based on the provisions of the law, the hearing was held considering him as an adult. The court found him guilty on Wednesday and ordered him to be sent to Harsul Jail. He was shifted to jail in the evening.

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What did the court say in the order

– Since the crime was proved under Section 302 of the IPC, the murderer was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 was imposed.

– The minor has been in the correctional home since October 18, 2021. The period he had previously served will be considered adjusted in the sentence.

– The convict should be provided with education services, skill development, counselling, treatment to improve behaviour, and psychiatric support in the prison during his sentence.

– A report should be prepared by the District Child Protection Unit and social workers on the rehabilitation and personal care of the child. After follow-up, the evaluation should be conducted and submitted to the court annually to assess whether the juvenile has shown improvement.

– The juvenile can file an appeal against the sentence in the High Court within 60 days.

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Full use of technology was the original evidence

The investigation revealed that the junevenil had planned the murder. He had watched ‘Murder Mystery, Violet and murder related crime movies and web series on the OTT platform. He had searched for 'how to commit murder' and 'how to destroy evidence' through different web browsers. Notably, he used the 'TOR' web browser for the 'dark web' to prevent the police from getting the information he had searched. Those things became the original evidence against him.

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Team conducted thorough investigation

Under the guidance of the then Commissioner of Police Dr Nikhil Gupta, Senior Police Inspector Avinash Aghav, Geeta Bagwade, Gautam Patare, Brahma Giri, Assistant Inspectors Manoj Shinde, Datta Shelke, Balasaheb Aher, and head constables Sunil Badgujar carried out the investigation. Chief Government pleader Avinash Deshpande presented the government side.

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Statement in court proved to be important

A woman, who was an important witness related to the juvenile, had tried to save the accused by creating confusion during the court hearing. Since the police suspected this, her statement, recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC, became important. The then Sessions Judge A. S. Vairagade declared her hostile and allowed cross-examination. This matter proved to be important in the investigation.