Thane court acquits four men accused of dacoity

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted four individuals from a village in Palghar who had been accused in a dacoity case. Additional sessions judge Premal S Vithalani noted that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the alleged accused Gopal Lakhma Pachkudwa (58), Deepak Bandhu Navla (48) Sandeep Walku Khanzode (54) and Dashrath Ramu Khanzode (49).

The copy of the order, dated September 12, was made available on Monday. According to the prosecution's case, on May 1, 2009, an individual was traveling on his motorcycle to Vikramgad when the alleged accused intercepted his vehicle, assaulted him, and forcefully took away Rs 8,500 in cash and jewelry valued at Rs 5,000.

The judge, in his order, noted that there was a big ditch at the spot, and the defence had argued that the victim had sustained injuries after falling into the ditch. It also noted that there was past enmity between residents of the two villages to which the accused and the victim belonged, and they had quarrelled a month or two before the incident.