MUMBAI, Oct. 28 -- A sessions court acquitted Mohd Asif Mohd Firoz Shaikh of the 2021 murder of commuter Niraj Jaiswar inside a local train, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish a reliable chain of circumstantial evidence linking him to the crime. Additional sessions judge R S Aradhye cited severe investigative lapses, stating the inquiry appeared designed to implicate the accused rather than uncover the truth. Jaiswar's body was found in a train at CSMT in March 2021. The police arrested Shaikh in April, alleging he stabbed Jaiswar during an attempted robbery. With no eyewitnesses, the prosecution relied on CCTV footage, recovered items, and forensic reports. However, the court highlighted major evidentiary flaws. Unauthenticated, unsealed CCTV footage from multiple stations failed to prove the two men traveled together or show Jaiswar boarding the train. Footage allegedly showing Shaikh cleaning a knife post-attack was inconclusive, with forensics finding no bloodstains on the cleaning cloth. Furthermore, blood-group analysis of the knife was inconclusive, and no DNA report linked it to the murder. The recovery of the alleged weapon and stolen items was also deemed doubtful. A key witness admitted absence during Shaikh's disclosure statement. Additionally, the judge questioned the credibility of panch witnesses, noting several were coerced into participating after police threatened to penalise them for operating businesses without valid licenses. The court cleared Shaikh of murder, robbery, and related charges....