In the last of the cases pending against him in the city, gangster Ashwin Naik was acquitted by a special MCOCA court on Friday.
In the last of the cases pending against him in the city, gangster Ashwin Naik was acquitted by a special MCOCA court on Friday of ordering the murder of his wife in 2000 after suspecting her of infidelity.
Naik, who had 16 trials against him in the city, was acquitted by a special MCOCA judge RG Avachat of hatching the conspiracy to have his wife Neeta killed.
Neeta, a corporator in the city's civic body was shot multiple times by two persons on November 13, 2000 at their residence in central Mumbai and died the following day.
The murder was allegedly planned by Naik since he suspected his wife Neeta of having an extra-marital relationship with a former policeman, Laxman Ziman.
Naik, who was heading his deceased brother Amar Naik's gang, was lodged in the Delhi Tihar jail in connection with another case at the time of the attack.
"After this acquittal there are no other trials are pending against him in the city," Kirti Dabir, Naik's lawyer, said.
The gangster, who is presently in Kalyan jail in neighbouring Thane, could however have some cases against him in other cities, she said.
Three persons were convicted and two acquitted for their alleged role in the conspiracy to carry out the murder.
One of the shooters, Sunil Jadhav, was sentenced to life imprisonment, Nilratan Mukherjee was sentenced to five years imprisonment and Manoj Bhalekar was sentenced to seven years imprisonment by the court.
Another alleged shooter in the murder, Santosh Pangrekar, was killed in a shootout with the police.
Naik, paralyzed from neck down following an attack on him in 1994 by an alleged Arun Gawli gang member, was acquitted of charges including murder, sections of the Arms Act and the Maharastra Control of Organised Crime Act.
Another associate of Naik, Kishore Rajput, who faced trial with him was also acquitted by the court today. The prosecution examined 21 witnesses during the course of the trial and had confessions from two accused.
Bhalekar and Mukherjee had confessed to the police regarding the involvement of Naik in ordering the killing.
However, the confessions were not considered against the gangster since he did not face trial with the other accused and the statements given were not considered under Section 18 of the MCOCA, prosecution sources said.
Naik was in Tihar jail when the trial against the other accused in the case began and an attempt by the police to obtain his custody in November 2000 was rejected by a Delhi court as another trial against him was ongoing. The gangster was brought to the city in 2005.
Ziman, a key witness who had claimed he and Neeta had received a threatening letter from Naik, also was untraceable during the trial and did not depose.
The wheelchair-bound gangster, who holds a diploma in civil engineering and took charge of the gang following the his brother Amar's death, was present in court today.
When asked if he was aware of any other cases pending against him in the country, Naik said, "I wouldn't know. Reporters who have covered all the cases would know more."
Apart from the murder of his wife, Naik was charged in 15 other cases in Mumbai for murder, attempt to murder and extortion but was acquitted by different courts.
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