Rajkot: A sessions court in Keshod town in Junagadh district sentenced 44-year-old Mahobatsinh Sisodiya to life imprisonment for the murder and robbery of his friend, Keval Savani, in Aug 2018.Additional sessions judge H B Trivedi, in an order dated Aug 13, convicted Sisodiya under Sections 302 (murder) and 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code, along with Section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of Aug 29, 2018. Sisodiya lured Savani to an isolated under-construction building behind a school at Motinagar in Keshod, on the pretext of having a party. He then attacked Savani repeatedly on the head and face with a wooden bat, killing him at the spot.Savani’s father and brother found his body in a pool of blood the following morning after searching for him throughout the night. Police found that his eight-tola gold chain, eight gold rings and mobile phone were missing.Investigators initially struggled to identify the killer because Sisodiya had allegedly used mobile phones borrowed from strangers to contact Savani twice that night. Witnesses who lent him their phones later described him to police and identified him during test identification parades.The investigation eventually led police to Sisodiya after they received information that he was planning to sell the stolen ornaments to a jeweller. Police arrested him and recovered a gold ring from his possession. Further disclosures led to the recovery of the blood-stained wooden bat and additional gold ornaments allegedly hidden beneath stones at his farm in Maliya Hatina.Police also recovered Savani’s discarded mobile phone from a 75-foot-deep agricultural well with the assistance of divers and fire brigade personnel.Local jewellers from Maliya Hatina testified that they had purchased gold rings from Sisodiya shortly after the crime and identified him in court. The prosecution also relied on the recovery of the stolen jewellery, the murder weapon, the victim’s mobile phone and testimony from witnesses who had interacted with the accused on the night of the crime.Public prosecutors N K Purohit and D C Thakar presented 41 oral witnesses and 61 documentary pieces of evidence before the court.The prosecution argued that Sisodiya had murdered Savani with the intention of robbing him of his gold ornaments and mobile phone. The court concluded that the evidence established an unbroken chain of circumstances and proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt.The court subsequently convicted Sisodiya and sentenced him to life imprisonment for the murder and robbery.
