A sessions court has acquitted a 58-year-old man, who was absconding for 29 years in an attempt to murder case, as the victim failed to recognise him as well as the pistol used in the crime.

The accused, Raju Chiknya alias Vilas Balaram Pawar, was alleged to be a part of the gang which had fired at the husband of the complainant, Mariambi Shaikh, on August 12, 1991, over old enmity.

As per the case lodged by Shaikh, a Govandi resident, with the Deonar police, Ganesh Thakur, alleged member of the same gang, and his mother had a fight with their family. He even attacked Shaikh's mother with a sword, said the complaint. On August 12, 1991, Thakur along with other accused, including Pawar, barged into her house and shot at her husband Shaukatali, said the prosecution.

The police had arrested Pawar, represented by advocate Sameer Pradhan, on October 22, 1992. Two years later, he was granted bail, after which he went absconding in May 1996. He was finally re-arrested on January 3, 2025. The trial commenced on February 5 and the prosecution managed to trace the Shaikh couple. However, Shaukatali and Shaikh failed to identify Pawar.

Sessions judge RD Sawant observed, “The prosecution case may be true. However, it has failed to travel the distance between ‘may be true’ and ‘must be true’ on the points of identity and involvement of the accused.”