27 years on, HC acquits man convicted in killing a family of four in Pune

MUMBAI/PUNE: After spending nearly three decades entangled in a murder case, a 50-year-old former watchman was acquitted by the Bombay High Court (HC) on Monday of charges related to the 1997 killings of a family of four in the affluent neighbourhood of Kalyani Nagar in Pune. The court overturned the death sentence handed to Bhagwan Kale, citing insufficient evidence to uphold the conviction.

A division bench comprising Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande rejected the Pune sessions court’s December 2021 verdict, which had sentenced Kale to death for the murders of Ramesh Patil, 50, his wife Vijaya, 40, and their children, Pooja, 12, and Manjunath, 7. The family was brutally attacked just weeks after relocating from Hubli to Pune, and their bodies were discovered in chilling circumstances.

The trial court had found Kale, then a watchman at Priston Town Society in Kalyani Nagar, guilty of orchestrating the crime along with his wife, Geetabai, and brother, Sahebrao Kale. The prosecution alleged that greed for money and valuables drove the trio to commit the murders and loot ₹42 lakh in cash along with gold and silver ornaments.

During the investigation, Kale escaped police custody and remained absconding until his capture in 2011. He was tried separately from Geetabai and Sahebrao, who were convicted earlier. In 2004, the Bombay High Court commuted Sahebrao’s death sentence to life imprisonment and upheld Geetabai’s life term. However, both later claimed to have been juveniles at the time of the crime, leading to their eventual release.

The case against Bhagwan Kale relied heavily on circumstantial evidence. The trial court had described the murders as “heinous, barbaric, and inhuman,” noting that the victims were attacked with sharp weapons, including knives and iron rods. Ramesh and Pooja’s bodies were found in a drainage pipe, while Vijaya and Manjunath were discovered in a pool of blood in their bedroom.

While overturning Kale’s death sentence, the HC observed that no conclusive case was made to confirm his guilt, ultimately acquitting him of charges including murder, robbery, and criminal trespass.