Thane: The additional sessions court of Thane acquitted a 58-year-old man in an 18-year-old intention to dacoity case after the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The accused, Giridhar Vithal Patil, was acquitted by additional sessions Judge V L Bhosale, who found that the prosecution could not establish that the accused assembled to commit dacoity and did not provide sufficient evidence to support the weapons recovery claims.
The court, citing a Supreme Court judgment, emphasised that mere presence with weapons cannot automatically prove intention to commit dacoity. “Possibility that the appellants might have collected for the purposes of murdering somebody or committing some other offence cannot be safely eliminated,” the judgment noted.
The court directed Patil to furnish a personal recognition bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety.
