In 2003, the special court had convicted three of Naik’s men - Manoj Bhalekar, Nilratan Mukherjee and Sunil Jadhav alias Ekkya - for murdering Neeta.
Gangster Ashwin Naik (on wheelchair in the picture), 47, was on Friday acquitted by special MCOCA judge, RG Avachat, of charges of orchestrating the murder of his corporator wife, Neeta, from Tihar jail where he was lodged in 2000.
In 2003, the special court had convicted three of Naik’s men - Manoj Bhalekar, Nilratan Mukherjee and Sunil Jadhav alias Ekkya - for murdering Neeta on the basis of circumstantial evidence and confessions of Bhalerao and Mukherjee.
However, special public prosecutor Jimmy Madon said, “Those confessions could not be used. MCOCA does not allow confessions of co-accused to be used against an accused after the trial is separated. This is a travesty of justice as the mastermind behind the crime has been let free while the foot runners have been convicted. We will appeal in the Bombay High Court on this point as it sets a bad precedent.”
Naik wanted to kill his wife when he discovered that she was having an affair with her bodyguard, Laxman Ziman. As per the police case, he sent a chit from Tihar jail to Ekkya, Santosh Pangerkar (who was killed in an encounter later) and others in November 2000 to kill Neeta “in five days”.
On November 13, Neeta was gunned down outside her flat on Shubashish Co-operative Society at NM Joshi Marg. Ekkya shot at her head, while Pangrekar shot at her waist.
The then special judge, while convicting the three accused, held that “the totality of the evidence indicate as to how meticulously the murder of Neeta Naik was planned through the master brain behind the murder who was an under trial prisoner detained in Tihar jail.”
Naik could not be tried with them, as a Delhi court trying him in a narcotics case would not grant the Mumbai police his custody.
Naik was brought to Mumbai from Tihar jail in 2005 to stand trial in 16 cases, including that of Neeta’s murder. He has been acquitted in all Mumbai cases, said his lawyer, Kirti Dabir. However, there is at least one case pending against him and he is not a free man yet.
The prosecution examined 21 witnesses during the trial. Ziman, a key witness who had claimed he and Neeta had received a threatening letter from Naik, was untraceable during the trial and did not depose.
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