Accused wasn't a minor during Adnan murder

MUMBAI: There was a twist in the Adnan Patrawala murder case in court as special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam brought new evidence to show that one of the prime accused, Ayush Bhat, was not a minor at the time of the incident.
Bhat had been claiming that he should be tried by a juvenile court as he was only 17 years old when the murder took place in August 2007.
A bone ossification test report issued by Dr D M Kamble of state-run J J Hospital, too, suggested that Bhat could have been a minor. Nikam had opposed the findings and demanded that Bhat be tried in a regular court for murder.
Nikam examined four key witnesses to show that Bhat was born in April 1988 and was well over 19 years of age when the murder took place. He called witnesses from Gondia, the city where Bhat was born and spent his initial years, to prove his point.
A nurse, Rita Khandit, said Bhat's mother had delivered a boy on April 10, 1988. Her testimony was bolstered by documentary evidence from the Gondia municipal corporation's birth register and testimonies given by teachers from Bhat's primary school there.
Sessions judge R G Awchat perused all the evidence and held that Bhat was not a minor when he committed the crime. This means he will not be able to escape trial in a regular sessions court.
On August 19, 2007, four youths-Sujit Nair, Bhat, Rajeev Dharaiya and Amit Kaushal-allegedly kidnapped and killed 16-year-old Patrawala, son of a businessman in Andheri.
The youths allegedly strangled Patrawala to death in Navi Mumbai after their plan to extort a Rs 2-crore ransom went awry and the police got wind of the kidnapping.
kartikeya.tripathi@timesgroup.com