Team Herald
PANJIM: Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) constable Pritesh Adkonkar of Merces, who was arrested on murder charges in July last year was granted conditional bail by the High Court of Bombay at Goa.
The Court released Adkonkar on a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with two solvent sureties in the like amount. He has been asked not into influence, contact the witnesses or family members and to surrender his passport before the
Sessions Court, within eight days from the date of
his release. He has also been asked not to leave the State without prior permission of Sessions Court and to report to the Old Goa police station every Sunday between 10 am and 11 am till the completion of the trial.
Adkonkar and his accomplice Krupesh Volvoikar of Salvador do Mundo were arrested by the Old Goa police in July last year on the charge of murdering a taxi driver Jayesh Chodankar of Chinchwada, Chimbel.
Arguing one behalf of the petitioner, Adv Arun Bras De Sa said that the police impleaded Section 302 of IPC only on the protest of the family of the deceased and pressure tactics. He said that there are two FIRs lodged back-to-back on the allegations that the applicant along with one person abused Chodankar with filthy words, threatened him with dire consequences, abducted and assaulted with slaps, fist blows and iron rods thereby causing bodily injuries.
De Sa submitted that the post-mortem examination report would clearly reveal that the death of the victim was due to crushing vehicular injuries to both his legs and excessive bleeding. He contended that no case with regard to offence punishable under Section 302 of IPC was made out so as to deny him bail.
Additional public prosecutor Pravin Faldessai told the Court that the applicantalong with other accused were furious and they assaulted the victimwith iron rod and then took him to the house of Adkonkar’sfather-in-law where he was again assaulted with iron rod.
When the victim ran away from the house, theapplicant along with another accused chased him carrying iron rods intheir hands.
Faldessaistated that there were CCTV footageof the first incident including near the house of Adkonkar’sfather-in-law and near Merces junction where the alleged incident occurred.