TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The four accused in the sensational Mandar Surlakar murder case of 2006 were awarded life sentences by the Goa Children’s Court on Tuesday, a day after they – Rohan Dhungat, Nafiyaz Sheikh, Shankar Tiwari and Jovito Ryan Pinto – were held guilty for conspiring to kidnap and kill him on August 14, 2006. The fifth accused Al-Saleha Beig has been let off by the court after he turned State approver during the trial.
Judge B P Deshpande also asked the accused to pay Rs one lakh, which would be paid as compensation to the victim’s family, or in default the four will have to undergo further imprisonment for a period of three months.
In its 210-page judgment, the Children’s Court also specified that imprisonment on all four charges will run concurrently.
During the argument on quantum of sentence on Tuesday, the public prosecutor pleaded for death penalty considering the brutality of the crime. The PP also pointed out that the accused were studying law and they knew about the consequences of committing the dastardly crime.
The accused were detenus at Sada sub-jail since their arrest on August 16, 2006. They were present in the court throughout the day on Tuesday with no perceived remorse on their faces.
“The accused…have been found guilty of conspiracy into the murder, kidnap, instilling fear of death (in the victim) and murder… Accused…are convicted,” the Judge had said while convicting the four on Monday.
