Gujarat High Court grants bail to Haryana-based gangster

Source: indianexpress.com

The two accused persons, who were on the motorcycle at the time of the shooting – one Rinku Rampal and another Ali – are absconding and the additional public prosecutor argued that it will be dificult to secure Ansari, if released on bail.

Pending final disposal of a criminal appeal at the Gujarat High Court, a division bench on Monday suspended the life sentence ordered by a Gandhidham sessions court for a Haryana-based gangster who allegedly killed a garment trader in 2016. The convict, Afroz Ansari, who was sentenced to life nearly a year ago, was also granted bail by the court.

The deceased, Sachin Dhavan, a trader of used-clothes, was allegedly shot dead by two bike-borne men outside his office in Gandhidham on August 1, 2016, following which an FIR was filed the same day. As reported by this paper, police at the time had said that one of the shooters was Rinku Rampal Dhimant of Haryana and was part of a gang led by Afroz Ansari, a gangster native of Bihar but active in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

In his criminal appeal in the Gujarat HC, convict Afroz Ansari sought suspension of the execution the sentence that had been imposed by the Gandhidham court and had further sought that he be released on bail in the interim.
Ansari argued in the HC that this was a case where no circumstance against him has been legally proved and the prosecution had relied on the fact that Ansari had issued threats to the deceased businessman in the past and subsequently, an offence had been registered against him, although this complaint was subsequently settled.

The Indian Express had reported in August 2016 that in 2011, Afroz tried to extort Rs 30 lakh from Dhavan. While Dhavan had filed a police complaint, booking Afroz and others for extortion, a Gandhidham court had later acquitted them all, after the two parties reached a compromise.

The additional public prosecutor at the HC, HK Patel however opposed the arguments put forth by Ansari’s advocates, stating that the deceased businessman’s driver, Majid Abdullah Bayad, had testified as an eye-witness and through his testimony, it was established that two persons on a red Yamaha motorcycle had committed the offence. This was in consonance with the FIR that too had recorded a red Yamaha motorcycle.

The two accused persons, who were on the motorcycle at the time of the shooting – one Rinku Rampal and another Ali – are absconding and the additional public prosecutor argued that it will be dificult to secure Ansari, if released on bail.

The division bench of Justices Harsha Devnani and VB Mayani however adjudged that prima facie no link appeared to have been established between Ansari and the co-accused – Rampal and Ali – and “the entire prosecution case appears to be based upon suspicion”. The court found merits in Ansari’s arguments and was of the opinion that there doesn’t seem to be any legally admissible evidence against Ansari.