The Bombay High Court has refused bail to two accused in the June 2011 'cold-blooded' murder of four youth on a hillock in Kurar village, Malad (East), popularly known as Kurar quadruple murder case, despite the accused being in jail for over 12 years.
Justice MS Karnik, on Tuesday, rejected bail pleas of Vivekanand Pise alias Vicky and Rahul Mandri observing, "the accusations against the applicants are regarding the brutal and heinous manner in which the offence was committed killing 4 victims in a cold-blooded manner. In the light of the materials on record, the nature of the accusations.. I am not inclined to allow the application. The application is rejected."
The offence
On June 6, 2011, the partially charred and naked bodies of Chetan Dhule (24), Dinesh Ihire (26), Ganesh Karanje (24) and Bharat Kudle (27) were found in the deserted hillocks of Appapada, behind Kurar village. They were kidnapped one by one in an autorickshaw, marched on foot up the hill and then murdered, allegedly by local goon Uday Pathak and his gang, following a minor face-off on the previous evening.
Advocates Prashant Pande and Dinesh Jadhwani, appearing for the accused, submitted that they had been in jail for long and are entitled to bail as per various judgments of the Supreme Court. The court noted, Suffice it to observe that it is the prosecution case that four victims were taken at a secluded place by the 17 accused. The hands and legs of the victims were tied. The victims were made to kneel down.
The accusation is that these four victims were mercilessly and brutally murdered by the accused whose roles have been specifically set out. It added that specific roles in the killings have been assigned to the two applicants. Justice Karnik took note that on a transfer petition by the prime accused Uday Pathak to move the trial anywhere outside Maharashtra, the Supreme Court on April 13 this year refused and directed the trial to conclude within three.
