Three get lifer for killing policeman during robbery attempt
A special court has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for knocking down an assistant sub inspector attached to Kherwadi police station in 2012 when he tried to stop them while they were making away with a car they had robbed from a driver of a travel firm.
The policeman Dattu Sarnobat, had sustained injury on the back of his head due to the fall and lost consciousness. He had succumbed to the injury, which was found to be brain damage, 15 days after the incident. During the period, he had not regained consciousness.
The incident took place at around 3 am on August 31, 2012 when Sarnobat and his two colleagues - Kherwadi police station’s mobile van driver Chandrakant Shinde and policeman Prakash Barve were on patrolling duty.
While they were proceeding on the Bandra railway bridge, they noticed an Indica car and a red Desire parked on the side and a man standing outside. They found the cars suspicious. ASI Sarnobat asked Shinde to stop the vehicle in front of the red car. While Sarnobat and Barve were proceeding towards the red car, the person driving it, swung it into motion and knocked down Sarnobat, speeding away with three other accomplices. When the police asked the man standing at the spot, he replied that he was the driver of the red car and had been robbed of the car by the men who came in the Indica when he returned to his car after attending nature’s call.
The court said it is clear that the accused came with a premeditated mind to the spot by the Indica. After the robbery, it said, they had driven the car towards Sarnobat knowing that if he had not been thrown away by the impact, he would have been crushed under the car. “It is clear that the accused acted in a cruel manner,” it said. It added that the prosecution had proved that the accused were present in the car, which knocked down a police officer, who tried to restrain them when they were committing robbery and due to this he had lost his life. It said considering this, it would not be just to show them leniency. The court also imposed a fine of over Rs. 16 lakh on each of the trio.