The Thane sessions court on May 13 acquitted Raghuveer Singh, arrested seven years ago for the murder of his mother, Sandhya Singh, sister of music directors Jatin-Lalit and actresses Sulakshana Pandit and Vijayta Pandit. The state of Maharashtra is likely to appeal against the order.
Raghuveer was 22 years old when he was arrested on December 16, 2013. Sandhya, married to Jayprakash Singh, then central excise commissioner, went missing in December 2012 after she left her Navi Mumbai home to visit a bank with her friend. On December 15, 2012, Raghuveer lodged a missing person’s report with the police. A murder case was registered against unknown persons after partial remains of a woman were found on January 28, 2013 near the Singhs’ residence. It was revealed by a DNA test that the remains were Sandhya’s.
The sessions court said, the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence. The court acquitted Raghuveer under section 302 (murder), section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and section 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or serious hurt) of the IPC.
The Bombay high court had granted Raghuveer bail in 2015 after the chargesheet was filed. It said that the case was based on circumstantial evidence which was neither clinching nor sufficient, prima facie to show Raghuveer’s complicity.