Man sentenced to life for killing constable

GAWANDWASHITWITHA WOODEN LOG BY THE CONVICT WHO HAD LOCKED HIMSELF IN TO EVADE ARREST

MUMBAI: In a rare case of speedy conviction within a year of trial, a sessions court on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing constable Arun Gawand, a recipient of the Chhatrapati Award. The court reduced his fine considering his financial condition, but refused to commute his jail term.

At 8 pm on November 15, 2014, Santosh Salve, 35, entered the premises of BPCL community building at Wadi Bunder, said the prosecution.

Salve, a native of Solapur, started attacking people who noticed his suspicious movement in the building. He climbed the terrace and locked himself in a room. At 1.36am, the watchman informed the police about the deadlock.

Gawand and other police officers — Arun Thorat and Dinkar Patil — reached the spot and climbed the window grills to reach Gawand. A journalist, Mohammed Shafique, of a local paper also scaled the building with the personnel.

As they climbed to the top, Salve attacked Gawand with a wooden log. With this heavy injury he fell down and died on the spot.

The defence, however, claimed that Salve didn’t attack him but while climbing the building he fell down, which led to his death.

The court relied on the deposition of Shafique and post-mortem reports which showed Gawand’s skull received heavy blows.