A key witness in the sensational murder case of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes in 2011 in Mumbai was found dead on Monday.
According to media reports, 40-year-old Avinash Bali was found dead around 2.40 am in an office used by his partner Nilesh Shukla in the MIDC area of suburban Andheri in Mumbai. His body was found with multiple stab wounds.
The police have launched a manhunt for Nilesh Shukla. The police suspect personal reasons as a motive behind the murder.
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Bali was a prime witness in the Keenan-Reuben murder case that had caused a huge public outrage over killings in full public view when the two were trying to save their female friends from eve-teasers.
“Bali had been missing for the last two-three days. He was found dead in the MIDC area in the wee hours today,” said a senior police officer.
He said the police were informed by some locals after they spotted a body with multiple injuries.
The deceased was later identified as Bali by his friends, he said, adding that further investigation was under way.
Bali had completed his deposition in the double murder case in 2014 and had supported the prosecution case till the end of the trial.
Keenan Santos (24) and his friend Reuben Fernandez (29) were stabbed by eve-teasers after a scuffle at Amboli in suburban Andheri on October 20, 2011. They were attacked when they tried to shield their women companions from a group of men who harassed, abused and misbehaved with them outside an eatery in Amboli.
The group, after retreating, returned to the spot with over ten accomplices and brutally assaulted Keenan and Reuben in full public view.
In 2016, Special Women’s Court Judge Vrushali Joshi had sentenced the accused to jail for the remainder of their life. The convicts have challenged the verdict in the Bombay High Court.
The accused — Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival — were convicted on charges of murder, outraging the modesty of a woman and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
(With agency inputs)
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