Two men accused of car-jacking and theft — Stephen Fernandes and Vijayan Joseph — were acquitted by a sessions court after the defence successfully proved that the police had detained them illegally.

Last year, on April 2, Jalashankar Shukla complained that he was carjacked by two persons at Santa Cruz. He said the carjackers had a revolver and asked him to drive to Vikhroli where he was dropped off and the car stolen.

The prosecution said the police had arrested Fernandes and Joseph on April 15 in connection with the case. But when the trial began, doubts about the case surfaced after Shukla deposed that the police had showed him two photographs of the accused on April 6, after which they were arrested.

The defence said the two men had been detained illegally and should therefore be set free immediately. Fernandes' wife Poornima testified that the police had picked up Fernandes on April 8, six days before his official arrest. She said that from April 8 to 14, she would go to the property cell lock-up near Crawford Market with a tiffin for her husband.

On April 14, the property cell officer told Poornima that Fernandes was in the custody of the Santa Cruz police station. Defence lawyer Rajendra Javanjal called for the log records of the property cell, which had Poornima's name and signature on each of the days she had visited the lock-up.

Additional sessions judge S Shembole acquitted the two accused. Incidentally, the police have recovered Shukla's car.

DNA CORRESPONDENT/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication