A Pune court Thursday awarded life imprisonment to nine people for murdering Congress worker Prakash Anna Narayan Jondhale, 46, at Gondhale Nagar in Hadapsar in 2013.
The sentenced convicts were identified as Vicky Jadhav, Vaibhav Bhadale, Akshay Ingulkar, Shrikant Atole, Amol Shegde, Rahul Kaule, Vicky Patil, Suraj Phadke and Akash Shinde. Most of them are linked to Hindu Rashtra Sena, a radical Hindutva outfit, according to the police.
“The court awarded life imprisonment to all accused, holding them guilty under sections 302 (murder), 506-2 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of Criminal Law Amendment Act,” said advocate Ujjwal Nikam, who was appointed as the special public prosecutor in this case.
The trial in the case was conducted before sessions judge K P Nandedkar. The prosecution examined 19 witnesses in this case. Advocate Nikam argued Jondhale was murdered brutally and even the complainant in this offence was attacked.
Jodhale was a resident of the Gondhale Nagar area in Hadapsar. Following a previous dispute, the assailants attacked Jondhale with sharp weapons while he was returning home on a motorcycle around 10.45 pm on July 8, 2013.
Jondhale’s friend Rajendra Pingle, 44 had lodged the First Information Report (FIR) in this case at the Hadapsar police station. On January 18, 2020, the complainant’s son Rushikesh Pingle was brutally attacked. The accused or their supporters issued threats to the complainant and witnesses.
