MUMBAI: A trial court on Friday convicted and sentenced a 50-year-old man to eight years imprisonment for the broad daylight robbery in which he and his accomplice shot at and robbed a jeweller of 42 gold bangles at the Dahisar railway station subway in 2009.The accused, Anwar Elahi Khan , was absconding and nabbed in 2012. Another accused was convicted in 2011 while six others were acquitted then.The defence argued that since the accused was not of a dark complexion and the exact height as described by the victim while in hospital, the benefit of doubt should be given to Khan as this proves that he is not the perpetrator. The court, however, pointed out the accused has been in jail for four years and if one is kept in a secluded place where there are little chances to come in the contact of sunlight, complexion is bound to change."As far as the discrepancy in respect of the height is concerned, it appears to me that the informant (victim) while giving statement in the hospital might have given the approximate height of the first person who fired upon him twice. Even otherwise, it cannot be expected from an injured person to describe the exact complexion and height of the assailant," the court said. It held that such trivial discrepancies could be used to disbelieve the prosecution's case.The victim was the owner of a gold jewellery workshop at Dahisar (E). He told the cops that on April 25, 2009, at 4.15 pm he was on his way to Kalbadevi to deliver an order. He said that he started walking towards Dahisar railway station through the subway when two armed men accosted him. As they tried to snatch his bag away , he held on to it. It was then that the men opened fire upon the victim. He suffered wounds on his stomach, shoulder and waist. He further stated that the assailants snatched the bag and ran towards the other side of the railway station.The victim said that due to the firing there was ruckus in the subway and the railway police arrived on the spot. They immediately rushed him to the government hospital in an autorickshaw.In the court, the jeweller identified the accused. The accused was found guilty of committing robbery with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt, along with a a separate charge of robbery . The court, however, acquitted the accused under the stringent MCOCA. The court held that since the principal accused Ayub Chikna has been acquitted earlier, Khan cannot be convicted as member of his organized crime syndicate.

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