The Additional Sessions Court-2 at Merces has granted conditional bail to two men ar rested in connection with the death of 63-year-old Umakant Khot at Morjim last November, while sharply questioning the strength of the police investiga tion and prosecution case. Accused Lokesh Puttuswamy and Rohit Kumar Parajapti were ordered to be released on furnish ing personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each along with two blood-relat ed sureties of the like amount. The Court also imposed several conditions, including submission of identity documents, operational mobile numbers with WhatsApp ac cess, and mandatory attendance at all court hearings. The accused have also been restrained from influencing witness es or leaving the State or country without prior permission of the Court. The case pertains to the death of Khot on November 5, 2025, at Sur vey No 149/1 of Morjim village. Mandrem police had initially registered the matter as an unnatural death. However, following a complaint filed by Arjun Gaude, an FIR was later registered against four persons on charges linked to murder and conspiracy.
According to the complaint, Khot had gone to the site to oppose al leged illegal hill cutting and tree felling activities. It was further alleged that the JCB operator involved in the work had earlier threatened to kill Khot if he continued to object to the activities. However, while granting bail, the Court observed that the prosecu tion’s own chargesheet substantially weakened its allegations. The Court noted that the prosecution case rested on three principal claims — that Khot was a tenant of the property, that the purchase of the land by accused Ashok Kumar Nedurumalli was illegal, and that un lawful construction activity was underway at the site.
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The Court, however, observed that the chargesheet itself showed that Khot was never a recorded tenant and that no tenancy proceedings had ever been initiated. It further noted that the property transaction had been legally executed through a registered sale deed. The order also highlighted serious evidentiary gaps in the prosecu tion case. Despite statements from more than 20 witnesses, the Court noted that there was no eyewitness account of any assault on the de ceased. It further observed that investigators had failed to recover any weap on allegedly used in the crime and that there was no forensic materi al linking the accused to a homicidal assault.
The Court also found no prima facie evidence supporting allegations of criminal conspiracy or common intention among the accused persons. Significantly, the Court referred to the opinion of the autopsy sur geon, who stated that the injuries sustained by Khot were “possible in fists and blows” but could equally have resulted from a fall. The medical report further stated that considering the deceased’s age and physique, even trivial trauma could have caused fatal head inju ries, an observation the Court said weakened the prosecution’s theory of murder. The Court ultimately held that the material presently on record did not justify continued incarceration of the accused pending trial, while making it clear that the observations were prima facie in nature and would not influence the merits of the case during trial.
