Kolkata, Aug. 19 -- Thirteen years after a man was gunned down on a Lake Town street in Kolkata, the Calcutta High Court has upheld the conviction of three men found guilty of the daylight killing.

A Division Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta dismissed the appeals of Tinku Naskar alias Poka, Surajit Das alias Narkel, and Subrata Roy, confirming the trial court's ruling. The trial court in 2016 had convicted the three men under Section 302 of the IPC, read with Section 34, for murder, as well as under Sections 25(1A) and 27(2) of the Arms Act. On July 16, 2012, victim Prosenjit Roy was riding his motorcycle when the three accused began chasing him near Kalitala United Club. Witnesses said both motorcycles hit a bump and toppled. Roy abandoned his bike and tried to run, but the assailants opened fire with pistols, striking him in the abdomen and head.

He collapsed on the road and died instantly as the gunmen fled towards Bablatala on their motorcycle. Two chance witnesses-Ahmed Ali, an auto driver, and Md. Iqbal, a mason-testified that they saw the men fire at Roy from close range. They later identified the accused during a test identification parade and again before

the trial court. The judges observed that their presence in the locality was naturally explained, their conduct after the incident matched their account and their testimony withstood cross-examination.

Their version was further supported by neighbours who heard gunshots and saw the assailants speeding away. An autopsy at RG Kar Hospital revealed four ante-mortem (before death) bullet wounds, declared homicidal in nature. Ballistic tests later confirmed that the cartridges and bullets recovered from the spot matched pistols seized from the homes of the convicts. These weapons were recovered by police following disclosures made by the accused and in the presence of independent seizure witnesses. Rejecting the defence's claim of discrepancies in the exact spot of the shooting and differences between the inquest and autopsy reports, the High Court held that these were minor and did not dent the prosecution's case.

It concluded that consistent eyewitness accounts, supported by medical and forensic evidence, proved the murder beyond doubt. The appeals were dismissed and the convictions allowed to stand.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.