Mumbai:
The four men accused of kidnapping and murdering Mumbai teenager Adnan Patrawala in 2007, who they had allegedly met via social networking site Orkut, walked out of Mumbai's Arthur Road jail today.
They were acquitted by the Mumbai court yesterday on grounds that there was not enough evidence to prove that the arrested men are guilty. A fifth - who is a minor and is being tried separately - is also likely to be declared innocent.
The verdict has led to shock and outrage and is being read by the city as a moment of shame for the Mumbai Police, whose lethargic inquiry has belied what experts say was an open-and-shut case.
''This is not a question of five years. It's a lifetime injury to us, if you actually go to see. And now this is an insult to injury at the moment,'' says Adnan's father Aslam Patrawala. ''I am not happy. The entire family is unhappy with the verdict,'' his mother added. However, at a press conference yesterday, Adnan's father steered clear of criticising the police, saying only that he would appeal to a higher court. "We are satisfied with what the police have done. I don't know what went wrong," he said. At the court, another father expressed his thanks. "I am relieved that my son is innocent. The way he was trapped anything could have happened to him,'' said Arun Bhatt, whose young son, Ayush, had been in jail for the murder since 2007. "I lost a friend and was booked for killing him. These four years (in jail) were the worst of my life," said Ayush, who was 19-year-old when he was arrested.
Sixteen-year-old Adnan's murder on an August night in 2007 made headlines for many reasons. His alleged killers were young and included two teens. They had befriended the rich Andheri businessman's son on Orkut, hugely popular among teens at the time for social networking. After they kidnapped him, reports on a television channel allegedly triggered panic. And they decided to strangle him. (Read: Five big facts about the Adnan case)
The court said that forensic and circumstantial evidence was crudely handled by the police so that instead of complimenting each other, the different pieces of information rattled around in a largely incongruous narrative against the accused.
On the evening of August 18, 2007, Adnan took his father's Skoda to meet with his friends at a gaming parlour at a mall in North West Mumbai. The group of five people he was meeting with used to interact with him regularly on Orkut. They had zeroed in on him after scanning the site for other potential victims. According to the police, the men wanted quick money. Some had debts they needed to settle. They drew up a list of people they could kidnap for ransom. Adnan appeared trusting and came from a wealthy family.
The alleged killers, according to the police, offered Adnan a spiked drink and suggested they go for a drive. The next morning, Adnan's father received a call asking for a two-crore ransom. Meanwhile, news of the kidnapping had broken on TV. So Adnan's abductors strangled him, dumped his body in some bushes on Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, and took local trains home.
The only eyewitness produced by the police was the last person to see Adnan live. He said Adnan's dead body was discovered on August 19. Police records list the next day. Cellphone records for some of those accused of the murder did not include the crucial details of three different calls made to Adnan's father for ransom. The court yesterday also said it was hard to believe the eyewitness' claim that the murder was planned to the last detail in a busy mall.
They were acquitted by the Mumbai court yesterday on grounds that there was not enough evidence to prove that the arrested men are guilty. A fifth - who is a minor and is being tried separately - is also likely to be declared innocent.
The verdict has led to shock and outrage and is being read by the city as a moment of shame for the Mumbai Police, whose lethargic inquiry has belied what experts say was an open-and-shut case.
''This is not a question of five years. It's a lifetime injury to us, if you actually go to see. And now this is an insult to injury at the moment,'' says Adnan's father Aslam Patrawala. ''I am not happy. The entire family is unhappy with the verdict,'' his mother added. However, at a press conference yesterday, Adnan's father steered clear of criticising the police, saying only that he would appeal to a higher court. "We are satisfied with what the police have done. I don't know what went wrong," he said. At the court, another father expressed his thanks. "I am relieved that my son is innocent. The way he was trapped anything could have happened to him,'' said Arun Bhatt, whose young son, Ayush, had been in jail for the murder since 2007. "I lost a friend and was booked for killing him. These four years (in jail) were the worst of my life," said Ayush, who was 19-year-old when he was arrested.
Sixteen-year-old Adnan's murder on an August night in 2007 made headlines for many reasons. His alleged killers were young and included two teens. They had befriended the rich Andheri businessman's son on Orkut, hugely popular among teens at the time for social networking. After they kidnapped him, reports on a television channel allegedly triggered panic. And they decided to strangle him. (Read: Five big facts about the Adnan case)
The court said that forensic and circumstantial evidence was crudely handled by the police so that instead of complimenting each other, the different pieces of information rattled around in a largely incongruous narrative against the accused.
On the evening of August 18, 2007, Adnan took his father's Skoda to meet with his friends at a gaming parlour at a mall in North West Mumbai. The group of five people he was meeting with used to interact with him regularly on Orkut. They had zeroed in on him after scanning the site for other potential victims. According to the police, the men wanted quick money. Some had debts they needed to settle. They drew up a list of people they could kidnap for ransom. Adnan appeared trusting and came from a wealthy family.
The alleged killers, according to the police, offered Adnan a spiked drink and suggested they go for a drive. The next morning, Adnan's father received a call asking for a two-crore ransom. Meanwhile, news of the kidnapping had broken on TV. So Adnan's abductors strangled him, dumped his body in some bushes on Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, and took local trains home.
The only eyewitness produced by the police was the last person to see Adnan live. He said Adnan's dead body was discovered on August 19. Police records list the next day. Cellphone records for some of those accused of the murder did not include the crucial details of three different calls made to Adnan's father for ransom. The court yesterday also said it was hard to believe the eyewitness' claim that the murder was planned to the last detail in a busy mall.
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