No direct evidence against me, Santacruz bizman accused murder claims in bail application | news from mumbai

MUMBAI: In his bail plea filed before the sessions court, one of the accused in the Santacruz businessman murder case, Hitesh Jain has argued that there is no direct evidence to show that he administered arsenic and thallium which led to the death textiles. businessman, Kamlakant Shah. The 46-year-old man, along with his girlfriend Kavita Shah, 45, are accused of poisoning the latter’s husband Kamalakant Shah to death.

In the plea filed on December 16 before the sessions court, Hitesh’s counsel argued that the entire case was based on circumstantial evidence and relied on parity grounds to seek his bail. The prosecution has not yet filed a response to the bail application.

“With regard to the possession of the poisonous substance, the entire indictment does not show or establish that the applicant was in possession of the alleged substance at any time. There is no evidence to show that Jain played any role in procuring the poisonous substances,” the plea said.

Kamlakant Shah died at Bombay Hospital in Marine Lines on September 19, 2022, and doctors found a large amount of heavy metals – arsenic and helium – in his blood. During the investigation, it was discovered that Shah was fed substantial doses of arsenic through his meals, which led to the deterioration of his health.

In the charge sheet filed by the crime branch on 23 February 2023, it was stated that Kavita conspired with Hitesh to poison Shah’s food. The two had been in a relationship for more than a decade, according to police, and were planning to marry. Kavita’s mother-in-law Sarladevi also died on August 13 due to similar health symptoms, prompting her sister-in-law Kavita Lalwani to suspect foul play in her brother’s death.

Jain’s lawyer claimed that there has been no progress in the investigation and no charges have been laid so far. They argued that the prosecution made a glaring flaw, arguing that the deaths of Sarladevi and Kamlakant were similar, as Sarladevi’s death summary shows that she died of severe influenza and pneumonia, left ventricular dysfunction and hypothyroidism, while the death report of Kamlakant says that he died due to a large amount of arsenic and thallium in his blood.

In September this year, the sessions court granted bail to Kavita Shah, while observing that there were no documents to prove that Kavita had administered the said poisonous substance to her husband. Relying on the same argument, the plea of ​​accused Hitesh Jain observed that he had no chance to administer the poisonous substance to Shah.

The defense argued that Kamlakant’s sister had falsely filed the complaint to dissuade Hitesh from giving any help to Kavita as the sister wanted to acquire her brother’s properties. They alleged that the story was concocted by Kamlakant’s sister to harm Kavita – his legal heir and wife – and Jain was just a family friend lending a helping hand.

Shah and Kavita got married in 2002 and have two children – a 20-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son. Hitesh was Shah’s friend and was in the clothing business like him. According to the police, Kamlakant and Kavita used to fight frequently over her relationship with Hitesh. The crime branch had arrested Kavita and Hitesh on December 3, 2022.