The Pune District and Additional Sessions Court on Friday sentenced a man to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) for attempting to murder a developer by attacking him with an axe during a dispute over collection of donations for a Ganpati festival.
The court also considered CCTV footage from Uttamnagar police station. Pawar was also convicted for abusing and intimidating More. All the sentences will run concurrently.
District Judge and Additional Sessions Judge RK Kshirsagar convicted Jeevan Suresh Pawar under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with provisions of the Arms Act and Maharashtra Police Act. The court imposed a fine of ₹ 50,000 under section 307. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment each under sections 504 and 506 of the IPC, one year under the Maharashtra Police Act and three years under the Arms Act.
The footage showed Pawar entering the police station shortly after the incident while carrying an axe, according to the judgment. The court held that the prosecution had established that he threatened the complainant and told his juvenile brother to kill him.
The court held that the dispute constituted the motive for the assault.
The judgment records that More had an altercation with Pawar, his brother and father a day before the attack over collection of donations for the Ganpati festival.
The prosecution also relied on eyewitness Dinesh Karale, who had a stall near More’s office. He saw one person holding More while another man, wearing a blue shirt, was hitting him on the head with a weapon resembling an axe.
Karale told the court that he heard a loud sound from inside the office and went in. He identified Pawar in court and said he helped take More to hospital.
