Pune court acquits Hindu Rashtra Sena leader Dhananjay Desai and 19 others in Mohsin Shaikh 2014 murder case

A court in Pune in Maharashtra acquitted 20 people, including the leader of a right-wing Hindu outfit, in the 2014 murder case of a youth named Mohsin Shaikh.

Information Technology professional Shaikh (28) was attacked and killed on June 2, 2014 in Hadapsar area by a mob incensed by morphed pictures of deities, and 20 persons, including Hindu Rashtra Sena leader Dhananjay Desai, were arrested.

Additional Sessions Judge SB Salunke acquitted 20 persons, including Desai, for want of evidence, the HRS leader’s lawyer Milind Pawar said.

The defence successfully argued Desai was in jail in connection with another case when the murder took place, Pawar said. He said Desai had no role in the killing or the riots that took place soon after. The witnesses in the case narrated the entire incident but they failed to identify all the accused arrested in the case, Pawar added.