Freedom still eludes two of the three accused in the sensational ‘fake’ murder of Priti. While one of the accused, Abhimanyu is a free man, the fate of the remaining two - Ajeet and Amarjeet - hangs in the balance.
The fast track court hearing the case today postponed the hearing on the discharge petition of the two accused till Monday. Public Prosecutor in-charge BN Sharma requested the court to keep the findings of the CID’s report and case diary filed by police in mind while hearing the discharge petition.
The Public Prosecutor in-charge also said the CID’s report declares the two accused ‘currently innocent’ to which the court sought clarification of the term and fixed the next date of hearing.
Meanwhile, relatives of Ajeet and Amarjeet leveled accusations against CID for preparing the report in a manner that leaves more questions than answers about the innocence of the two accused in the fake murder case.
“At whose behest these things are being doneIJ Why they are still in jail when the report exonerates them of the chargeIJ This is being done to shield the real culprit as police does not want them to come out,” said Ramesh uncle of Amarjeet. One accused, Abhimanyu was released July 10 after days of ordeal at the Birsa Munda Central Jail.
Ajeet and Amarjeet have been lodged in jail for about four months for the crime which they actually had not committed, said their counsel. Even after Priti, whose rape and murder charges had landed them in prison, resurfaced the duo are awaiting proper procedure before they could be breath in free air out of the confinement of the Central Jail.
On February 19, a police investigation indicated that Priti was gang-raped and set ablaze apparently to hide the evidences. The trio’s ordeal started when a girl’s partially burnt body was recovered about 40 km from Ranchi on February 15 at an isolated place between Gosaidih and Majhi Toli in Bundu police station area.
According to the Police report a girl hailing from Sai Colony, Chutia, had gone to Dhurwa dam with her boyfriend Ajit for a Valentine’s Day date where she was gang-raped and killed by him along with the help of his friends Amarjit and Abhimanyu. The girl’s parents even identified the body leading to the arresting of three youths.
Following the clamour of botched up investigation the matter was handed over to the CID which had declared the two accused ‘currently innocent’- a phrase that seems to be delaying their release due to unclear connotation of the phrase.