Noida: A fast-track court has acquitted two men accused in a murder case dating back nearly 14 years after witnesses turned hostile and the complainant refused to support a key part of the prosecution’s account.The two men, who worked as a guard and a gunman for Ahuja company, were accused of opening fire on two persons to teach them a lesson for allegedly defecating in an open area on the company’s premises. One of the two victims died at the spot in 2012. The survivor went to the police station and lodged an FIR naming the accused.Additional sessions judge Satyendra Singh said the survivor, Amit Kumar Mishra, clarified in his cross-examination that Mahesh Pachori did not fire at Atar Singh’s behest, nor did he know the accused, nor did he see the accused at the scene of the incident, and that he reached the scene after Brijesh Pandey’s death.“The witness did not support the prosecution’s story. Other witnesses clearly stated that when they arrived at the scene, the deceased’s body was lying there. Thus, the incident did not occur in their presence either. None of the witnesses of fact supported the incident. Investigating Officer Piyush Dixit also committed numerous errors in the investigation, admitting these errors before the court and denying the evidence presented on the record. Thus, the charges against the accused — Atar Singh and Mahesh Pachori under Section 302/34 of the IPC have not been proved beyond doubt,” the judge said.Since the murder was not proved, the charges under section 25/30 of the Arms Act for illegal use of a licensed weapon also remained unsubstantiated, the judge added.The case was transferred seven times and was heard on 143 dates during the last 13 years and 10 months before being disposed of on Saturday.The matter is linked to an FIR registered by Surajpur police on Dec 24, 2012, on the basis of a written complaint filed by Amit Mishra. Mishra alleged that he, along with his friend Brijesh Pandey, had gone to attend to nature’s call in an open area when the guard of Ahuja company, Atar Singh, screamed at them for defecating in the open and asked his gunman Mahesh Pachori to teach them a lesson, following which he opened fire in which Pandey was hit and he collapsed immediately. Mishra told police that several other people arrived at the spot after hearing the gunshot and that his body was lying there when he came to file the complaint.Police registered a case u/s 302/34 IPC against Singh and Pachori and filed another case under section 25/30 of the Arms Act against Pachori the next day. After investigation, police filed two separate charge sheets, taking cognisance of which the sessions court framed charges against the duo in both the cases on Aug 19, 2013.The accused both denied the charges and said that they were not present at the crime scene and were falsely implicated, and chose to stand trial. The prosecution presented 10 witnesses, including the complainant.The complainant, however, refused to corroborate the contents of the FIR and said that he was not with the deceased at the time he was shot at. Other witnesses presented by the prosecution also refused to acknowledge that firing had occurred in front of their eyes or whether they saw the accused running away from the crime scene.Having heard the testimonies, the court concluded that though the incident, the FIR and recovery of the weapon were corroborated by the investigators, none of the witnesses could establish who fired the gunshot and whether the deceased died due to a bullet injury caused by a bullet fired from the weapon recovered by the police. The judge said that under the circumstances, it was not established beyond a reasonable doubt that the gunman at the behest of the guard had fired from his gun, leading to the death of the deceased, and eventually both were acquitted of the charges.
