India, Oct. 26 -- A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted four persons accused of murdering a man in 2022, citing that the prosecution had based the case entirely on circumstantial evidence.

Principal District and Sessions Judge S. B. Agrawal acquitted the accused, Pravin Ramdas Jagtap, Rahul Virbhan Suryavanshi, Akshay Lahu Patil, and Ajinkya Ramdas Patil, of charges under sections 302 (murder), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and 364 (abduction) of the Indian Penal Code.

A copy of the order dated October 17 was made available on Thursday.

The prosecution had stated that cousins Akshay Lahu Patil and Ajinkya Ramdas Patil had a longstanding dispute with the victim, Mangesh Maruti Pat...