Thane man arrested for murder bid

A 30yearold man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to kill a juvenile in Maharashtras Thane district believing the latter was planning to kidnap his sister a police official said MondayThe accused who is facing many criminal charges went to the 21yearold victims home in Ambernath on Saturday He brought the victim on a motorbike to a secluded location in Chiradgaon and questioned him about his claimed intentions towards his sister according to a Hill Line police official reported PTIAccording to the PTI report the Thane man then assaulted the victim and hit him in the head with a sickle The seriously injured victim escaped and made it to a local hospital where he is presently undergoing treatmentFollowing the victims report the Thane man was apprehended on Sunday He has been charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code including Section 307 attempt to murder Section 323 voluntarily causing harm Section 504 intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and Section 506 criminal intimidation as well as provisions of the Arms Act the news agency report statedMeanwhile in another unrelated incident from Thane district three persons were acquitted in a 2010 case of kidnapping and dacoity According to another PTI report Additional Sessions Judge AN Sirsikar in an order passed on June 18 stated that the prosecution had failed to prove any of the charges against the three accused who are aged between 43 to 47 yearsA copy of the order was made accessible on MondayAccording to the news agency report the prosecution told the court that on December 3 2010 when a man was returning home on his twowheeler it brushed against a car near a hospital in Thane city Following that the occupants alighted from the car kidnapped the man and took him to the Vitawa area in their vehicle where they threatened him and snatched his gold chain worth Rs 18000 and Rs 8000 cashMeanwhile defence counsels DL Thamke and Swati Chitnis contesting charges punched holes in the prosecutions case thus leading to the acquittal of the three accused who were arrested after being charged under Indian Penal Code sections 363 kidnapping and 395 dacoityThe judge stated in his ruling that the informant who was not acquainted with the accused was not subjected to an identity procession following the arrestFollowing a 13year lapse the evidence was finally recorded although it was unclear how the three accused were identified The court found that the evidence was further undercut by contradictory witness testimony and a lack of corroborationThe lack of identification markers and the delayed retrieval made the recovery of stolen goods judged inconclusive the report statedDue to insufficient evidence the court cleared the accused in particular it noted that the informants testimony was insufficient to establish the accuseds identificationWith PTI inputs