The Alibaug sessions court has convicted a man from Khopoli in a double murder case and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The accused, Chandrakant alias Sonya Uttam Gaikwad (32), had murdered a teenager and her sister-in-law at Hotel Golden in Panvel on September 30, 2014. The police arrested Gaikwad using call data records of the woman. The accused was in an illicit relationship with the woman. When he learnt that the woman was having an affair with the teenager’s boyfriend’s friend, he decided to take revenge. He called both of them to the hotel and killed them.
The woman’s son who had accompanied her was left unharmed. A passing cowherd heard the child’s cries and reported the incident to the police. The case was registered with the New Panvel police under Sections 302 and 404 of the Indian Penal Code. Public prosecutor Ashwini Bandiwadekar-Patil said, “The accused was convicted after presenting 13 witnesses, including the complainant and a doctor from the Panvel Rural Hospital. Technical and circumstantial evidence played a crucial role in the case.”
