42 yrs later, man acquitted for ₹40 theft

42 yrs later, man acquitted for ₹40 theft

Vaibhav.Ganjapure@timesgroup.com

Nagpur:25.10.2021

Over 42 years after a man allegedly stole Rs 40 by injuring a person, the sessions court here has acquitted him from the charges of robbery recently. During pendency of the over four-decades-old case, his three accomplices as well as the complainant and four of the seven witnesses died.

The accused, Bhimrao Nitnaware, who turned 65 years old this year, along with co-accused — Ramesh Meshram, Madhukar Patil and Hiraman Dhoke – had allegedly attacked complainant Motiram around midnight on January 13, 1978. After injuring Motiram, they allegedly robbed him of Rs.40 which he had earned after selling milk.

After Motiram lodged a complaint with MIDC police station, Meshram was arrested but the other three accused remained absconding for many years. The police had filed a chargesheet against all the four accused under Section 394 of IPC for dacoity. Subsequently, the trial started before the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC). It was later realized that the accused had also attacked the complainant with a knife and, therefore, the charges were reframed under Section 398 of IPC which is for attempting to commit robbery armed with a deadly weapon.