Mumbai, May 18: A court here today acquitted two college students of the charges of kidnapping and murdering a teenager last year after the prosecution failed to prove the motive behind the alleged crime.
Fahad Faiyaz Shaikh and Salim Abdul Akhtar were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and murdering Amandeep Banwait (14), a class X student, in May last year.
Amandeep had gone missing from suburban Kurla and his body was recovered at Khalapur in Raigad district after a week.
According to the prosecution, the accused and the victim had earlier committed a robbery. However, a dispute arose between them following which the arrested duo “kidnapped and murdered” Amandeep at Khalapur.
“The prosecution could not prove this. Three eyewitnesses deposed before the court said they had seen the duo at Khalapur but the victim was not with them,” the accused’s lawyer Wahab Khan said.
–Agencies