Palanpur: A sessions court in Himmatnagar town sentenced two men to death for brutally murdering a haircutting salon owner in Ilol village of Sabarkantha district in 2023.The third accused was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for his role in the crime.Principal District and Sessions Judge K R Rabari awarded capital punishment to Mohammed Nadeem Mohammed Qutubuddin Ansari and Shehbaz Ahmed Mohammed Multani, and seven years’ imprisonment to the third convict, Parvez Musharraf Naushad Hussain Ansari, for abetting the crime. The fourth accused was a juvenile.According to the district govt pleader Hiren Trivedi, the victim, Akbar Sani, originally from Uttar Pradesh and residing in Ilol, gave his salon on contract to the accused, who were working in the shop. The accused owed him around Rs 1.5 lakh for salon-related transactions. Despite repeated demands for payment, they refused to pay. Instead, the accused threatened Akbar with dire consequences if he continued pressing for the dues, Trivedi said.On March 11, 2023, they called Akbar to the salon on the pretext of settling the outstanding amount. Once inside, they seated him in the chair under the guise of providing a facial treatment. As part of the plan, they launched a brutal attack on him with scissors and other sharp weapons. Akbar sustained multiple fatal injuries to his neck and head and died on the spot.After the killing, they attempted to destroy evidence by cleaning up the crime scene, disposing of bloodstained clothes and weapons at different locations. They dumped the victim’s body in a remote area near Kadoli village.Later, they tried to mislead investigators by filing a missing person complaint regarding Akbar.During the investigation, police recovered the CCTV footage from the salon, forensic evidence, bloodstained weapons and clothing, and other material linking the accused to the crime. DNA and forensic reports corroborated the prosecution’s case.The prosecution argued that the murder was premeditated and carried out in a particularly brutal manner.“The entire murder was captured in the salon’s CCTV. The prosecution examined around 30 witnesses and relied on electronic, forensic and circumstantial evidence to establish the chain of events,” said Trivedi.After considering the evidence and arguments of the prosecution, the court convicted the trio and awarded the death penalty to the two main perpetrators, describing the case as the rarest of rare.The convicts, as well as the victim, are natives of Uttar Pradesh.
