Representative image

VADODARA: Almost four decades after they ransacked a ‘bhajiya’ stall and robbed the owner of Rs 250, three persons were acquitted by a local court as the complainant himself turned hostile during the trial.

The court of additional chief judicial magistrate acquitted Jayanti Parmar, Dileep Parmar and Mohan Parmar after stall owner Rajendra Thakor retracted from his allegations last week.

It was in November 1981 that the trio had gone to his ‘bhajia’ stall in Bakrawadi locality in Navapura and asked him to give food on credit. When Thakor refused, the three got agitated and started hurling expletives at him. They allegedly ransacked his stall and robbed his daily cash collection. Following a complaint lodged by Thakor, city police station had arrested them and they were released on bail later. The chargesheet was filed within a month.

During the trial, none of the three appeared in the court despite repeated summons. Therefore, it was decided to go ahead with the trial without them.

The public prosecutor submitted the complaint and the statements of material witnesses as the key evidence in the case. The court considered the evidence against the trio, but when it came to examination of Thakor, the prosecution’s case collapsed.

When the public prosecutor examined Thakor, he did not support the case. Thakor flatly denied that the three had ransacked his stall and abusive language. He also refuted his own allegations of the trio robbing him of Rs 250.

The court stated that as the complainant himself admitted that no such incident took place and the accused too remained away from trial, the case has not been proven.

