Panaji: Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted alleged serial killer Mahanand Naik in connection with death of a middle-aged woman, making this as the eighth acquittal out of 18 cases in which he has been chargesheeted.
The former rickshaw driver had been chargesheeted in 18 different cases, all related to murder of women, which he allegedly committed between 1994-2009.
The Goa Bench of the high court set aside the order by a lower court which had convicted Naik for killing a middle-aged woman, Sushila Fatarpekar, who was found dead in 2007 at Bambolim, a suburban locality of Panaji.
The court acquitted him after a DNA test did not prove that the victim was Fatarpekar.
The police had chargesheeted Naik claiming that he had murdered Fatarpekar using her dupatta and ran away with gold ornaments from her body.
During investigation, the police had recovered stolen ornaments from a jeweller who reportedly confessed that he had purchased it from Mahanand.
PTI
