KOCHI: The Alappuzha Sessions Court has upheld the life imprisonment and fine imposed on the first two accused, Avinash Shinde and Sajit Mujawar, who are from Maharashtra, for killing and robbing Durgesh, a gold merchant in Alappuzha. But the third accused, Jyotiram Subbarao Yadav, was acquitted as there was no evidence against him.

A division bench comprising Justice PB Suresh Kumar and Justice PG Ajith Kumar passed the verdict after considering the appeal filed by the accused against the sentence on November 12, 2018.

The case is that on the night of November 5, 2013, Avinash and Sajith robbed Durgesh of 747.80 grams of gold and Rs 5.60 lakh. The High Court also stated that there is no error in the findings of the Sessions Court that Durgesh was killed. According to the chargesheet, Jyotiram conspired with other accused to kill Durgesh and steal money and jewellery due to business enmity. However, the High Court quashed Jyotiram's sentence on the grounds that the charges against him could not be proved.