Azmi murder: Court drops MCOCA charges against four

Azmi was shot dead in his suburban Kurla office on February 11 last year allegedly by four sharp shooters of Nepali gang. The assailants fired five bullets at Azmi from a close range following which the lawyer succumbed to his injuries. Three months later the police had filed a chargesheet naming ten accused of which four associates of Nepali — Devendra Babu Jagtap alias JD,Pintoo Deoram Dagale,Vinod Yashwant Vichare and Hasmukh Solanki — were arrested.

All were booked under various sections of IPC,Arms Act and MCOCA. “As soon as the order copy is out,we will move the High Court challenging this order,” said Azmi’s brother Khalid. The chargesheet has put together 95 witnesses including two witnesses who allegedly saw the shooters. The case was primarily based on the theory that Nepali had given contract to kill Azmi as he believed that the lawyer was defending those who according to him were anti-nationals. According to the police,the murder was executed on the instructions of Nepali and his associate Vijay who had paid Rs 1 lakh to the killers.