Panaji: The Bombay high court on Thursday ordered the release of three life convicts — Rohan Dhungat, Shankar Tiwari and Ryan Pinto — in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of Mandar Surlakar, after the Sentence Review Board recommended their premature release on completion of 14 years of actual imprisonment.The court quashed state govt’s order rejecting their premature release despite a recommendation in their favour by the Sentence Review Board. It also rejected a plea by the victim’s father opposing their release. The court directed that, after release, the three must report to the local police station once a month for the first six months and once every three months for the subsequent six months.A fourth life convict in the case, Nafiyaz Shaikh, has not approached the HC yet.All four were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Goa children’s court in 2014 and have completed 14 years of actual imprisonment.The case dates back to Aug 2006, when five accused — including Al-Saleha Beig, who later turned approver — allegedly conspired to kidnap a wealthy person for ransom. After analysing profiles, they zeroed in on Mandar, a DJ whose father was a builder. They allegedly lured him from his home on the pretext of discussing a music show, kidnapped him, demanded Rs 50 lakh from his father, killed Mandar, and dumped his body by the roadside at Arla Keri.In 2019, the HC upheld their conviction and life sentence. It disposed of the victim’s father’s plea seeking enhancement of the sentence to the death penalty or imprisonment for the remainder of their lives without remission.In 2020, the Sentence Review Board recommended premature release for all four convicts, but the state declined to act on it. In 2022, the HC dismissed their petitions for premature release, holding that although 14 years had passed since their arrest, the period spent on parole could not be counted towards 14 years of actual imprisonment. The court noted that as of Sep 2020 — when the board made its recommendation — Dhungat had completed a little over 11 years, while Shaikh, Tiwari and Pinto had completed 12 years each, excluding parole and remission.In 2024, they again applied for premature release, but the Sentence Review Board did not recommend it. They then moved the HC, which set aside the board’s decision and directed it to reconsider their cases at the next meeting.In May 2025, the board unanimously recommended premature release, but the state rejected it. The convicts again approached the HC, which set aside the state’s order and directed a fresh decision within four weeks. The state again rejected their pleas, leading to another round of litigation. On Thursday, the HC quashed the state’s rejection and ordered the release of the three convicts.Advocate Nigel Fernandes represented Dhungat and Tiwari, while advocate Mark Valadares represented Pinto in the HC. Additional public prosecutors Pravin Faldessi, Swati Wagh and Preetam Talaulikar represented the state and inspector general of prisons.
