Mumbai, Oct. 30 -- Eight years after a sessions court sentenced Manishprasad Gaud to life imprisonment for the kidnapping and murder of a five-year-old boy in 2012, the Bombay High Court on Thursday acquitted him, observing that there was no material on record to connect him with the child's death. A division bench of Justices M S Karnik and Shreeram Shirsat set aside Gaud's conviction, acquitted him of all charges and ordered his release from Nagpur Central Prison. "No doubt it is a case of homicidal death, but whether the appellant (Gaud) is the author of the crime has not been cogently established. Just because there is recovery of the dead body at the instance of the appellant, which also cannot be said to be cogent and convincing, it cannot be said that the appellant is connected with the murder of the deceased," the court observed. The incident dates back to August 28, 2012, when Shivchand Sharma, father of the deceased child, Sagar, lodged an FIR at Kandivali police station, two days after filing a missing-person complaint. Sharma had received a call from a person identifying himself as 'Raja', who demanded a ransom of Rs.50,000 for the child's release. When the child did not return even after Sharma paid the ransom, police arrested Gaud on August 30, 2012, based on the SIM cards allegedly used to make the ransom calls. The following day, police claimed, Gaud led them to the child's body....