Nagpur: The judgment in the murder of notorious antisocial Pintu Patil would be delivered on Saturday. It was earlier expected to be delivered on
Friday in the court of eighth additional sessions judge DN Argade. A large number of relatives and followers from both sides crowded the district and sessions court premises in the city.
According to Lubesh Meshram, who was appointed special counsel along with Dipak Kolhe to assist the prosecution, though the judge started dictating the judgment in the morning, he directed that the verdict would be released only on Saturday. The judge had refused to entertain the deposition of four witnesses and also those of investigation officer Vijay Chafle. Hence, defence counsels Chandrashekhar Jaltare, Milind Chaurasia and RB Gaikwad fancy the chances of acquittal for their clients.
According to the prosecution, Patil was killed on August 16, 2006, after a brawl over a petty issue. The deceased had been blessed with a baby girl two days before the murder and he had thrown a party for his friends to celebrate the event. He sent his accomplice with Rs 100 to fetch four bottles of liquor from the shop owned by the accused Umabai Sahare. She however gave only three bottles at a higher price, since it was a dry day. On August 15, Patil had reportedly assaulted Umabai over this and created ruckus at her shop.
The accused allegedly hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Patil and invited him for talks at Chimney Square near Ajni. As soon as Patil reached the spot with his accomplice Rajesh Salame, he was pounced upon by 14 persons. The brutality of the killing can be gauged from the fact that the deceased sustained 43 stabs while his friend managed to escape with minor injuries.
On a complaint by Patil's younger brother, Anil, the accused had been booked under sections 143, 147,148, 149, 324 and 302 of IPC by the Ajni police. The investigation was later shifted to crime branch inspector Devidas Patil following doubts raised by the deceased's family. The trial began on September 11, 2008, and total of 11 witnesses were examined.