Surat: Three persons were convicted by a local court on Tuesday in a case pertaining to loot and murder of a 60-year-old woman in Katargam area in December 2011.
The key accused knew that the woman’s husband keeps cash at home based on which they hatched the loot plan leading to murder.Court of additional sessions judge AS Vyas convicted Bhavesh alias Dharmesh Dedkawala, Vishal Patel and Akshay Bardoliya for alleged murder of deceased Prabha Khant.
“The court convicted the accused considering circumstantial evidence.
A woman confirmed presence of the accused outside the apartment of the deceased woman after the murder,” said Kirit Panwala, special public prosecutor.
Khant was stabbed multiple times in the throat by the accused between 4 and 4.30 pm on December 9, 2011 when she was alone at her apartment.
Probe in the case revealed that the accused Dedkawala was Khant’s husband Gokul’s friend and the duo often met.
Dedkawala knew that Gokul keeps cash at home and planned a loot, which he and his two accomplices decided to execute when the latter wasn’t present at home.
On December 9, Dedkawala called Gokul on his mobile phone to check his whereabouts.
Gokul informed that he was at his farm.
Later, he called up the victim on her mobile phone posing as an employee of an automobile company and informed that the Khant family won a prize for purchase of a motorcycle.
The woman believed them and called the accused home.
She had gone out for lunch at a relative’s place but returned home to receive the prize.
The accused entered her home claiming that they had come to deliver the gift and closed the front door.
The trio then stabbed the woman, killing her on the spot.
However, they failed to break the locker and escaped looting only Rs 30,000 in cash.