Ranka murder case: Convict gets life in jail

The Sessions Court presided over by principal judge SB Agarwal on Thursday sentenced Vrijesh Sanghvi to life imprisonment after he was held guilty by the court on October 10 of kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Aditya Ranka, son of a South Mumbai-based diamond merchant.

The court has held Sanghvi guilty under six charges, and has levied a fine of Rs 9 lakhs, which the court has directed him to hand over to the family of the victim. After the court proceedings, a weeping Vrijesh said, "You (Vrijesh) deserve this punishment. My son had left my house so well-dressed and tidy, but later I could not even hug him properly. He was in such a condition that no one could bear to see him. I just hope that never ever any child be separated from his mother."

The Sessions Court had on Monday convicted Sanghvi, 29, who was arrested in May 2013 for kidnapping and murdering South-Mumbai based diamond broker Jitendra Ranka's 13-year old son Aditya.

The court, however, acquitted the deceased's cousin, Himanshu Ranka, who the police claimed was the alleged brain behind the crime, on the grounds of lack of sufficient evidence.The police had claimed that the two accused were into betting on Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches and having lost money on bets, they kidnapped the teenager and demanded ransom from his family to pay off their debts.