Munawar Harun Shah

Outcome

Munawar Harun Shah was executed by hanging at the Yerawada central jail on November 27, 1983.

Timeline

• 15 January 1976 — The foursome along with classmate Suhas Chandak picked up Prakash Hegde on false pretences and took him to Jakkal's tin shed on Karve Road.
• 16 January 1976 — Prakash Hegde was gagged and taken to Peshwe Park; they strangled Prakash with a nylon rope, placed his body in an iron barrel, inserted some stones, and dumped the barrel into the lake.
• 22 November 1976 — Bafna Yashomati Bafna's bungalow on Shankarseth road was attacked on the evening of 22 November; the group escaped by climbing the barbed wire fence after facing resistance from Bafna and her two servants.
• 31 October 1976 — Joshi Achyut Joshi from Vijaynagar was attacked on the night of 31 October; Achyut Joshi and his wife Usha were killed by strangulating with a nylon rope and suffocating his wife, and their teenaged son Anand was stripped naked and strangulated with the same identical nylon rope.
• 1 December 1976 — The group attacked the Abhyankar bungalow Smriti on Bhandarkar road at around 8 p.m.
• August 1976 — The gang moved to the city of Kolhapur in August 1976 but were unsuccessful when they targeted the house of a local businessman.
• 23 March 1977 — Anil Gokhale was offered a lift home by Jakkal on his motorcycle and was taken to Jakkal's shed and strangulated with the nylon rope; his body was tied to an unused iron ladder, weighed down with big boulders, and dumped into the Mula-Mutha river near Bund Garden.
• 24 March 1977 — On the evening of 24 March, the body of Anil Gokhale surfaced near Yerawada.
• 30 March 1977 — The four killers were apprehended.
• 15 May 1978 — The case began on 15 May 1978 in the Pune district.
• 28 September 1978 — The accused were sentenced to death by Pune Sessions Court judge Waman Narayan Bapat.
• 6 April 1979 — Their sentences were confirmed by the Bombay High Court.
• 17 November 1980 — Their special leave petition against their convictions and sentences was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
• 27 November 1983 — The four were hanged at the Yerawada central jail.

Background

Munawar Harun Shah was part of a group of four commercial art students of the Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, Tilak Road, Pune, India, identified in the case summary as Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders. The group committed 10 murders between January 1976 and March 1977 and were hanged to death on 27 November 1983. The group acquired a reputation for bad conduct on their college campus. They frequently robbed and indulged in drinking.

The offence

Plot and killing of Prakash Hegde

A plot was hatched to kidnap Prakash Hegde for ransom. On 15 January 1976, the foursome along with classmate Suhas Chandak picked up Prakash on a false pretence and took him to Jakkal's tin shed on Karve Road. They forced him to write a runaway note to his father stating that he was leaving home. On the night of 16 January 1976, they gagged him and took him to Peshwe Park. They strangled Prakash with a nylon rope, placed his body in an iron barrel, inserted some stones, and dumped the barrel into the lake. The following day, they sent a ransom note to Sundar Hegde.

In the narrative, the note penned by Prakash also reached his father, signed by “Prakash,” when Prakash was actually known as Devdas at home. A police complaint filed by Hegde did not make much progress.

Attempted robbery targeting a local businessman in Kolhapur

The gang moved to the city of Kolhapur in August 1976 but were unsuccessful when they targeted the house of a local businessman.

Killing of Achyut Joshi and Usha Joshi; killing of Anand Joshi

On the night of 31 October 1976, Joshi Achyut Joshi from Vijaynagar was attacked. The group forced themselves into his house brandishing their knives. Achyut Joshi and his wife Usha were the only ones at home. After tying their hands and legs, the duo killed the married couple by strangulating Achyut Joshi with a nylon rope and suffocating his wife. When the Joshi's teenaged son Anand walked in, he was stripped naked and strangulated with the same identical nylon rope. After the murders, they decamped with booty including “a mangalsutra, a watch and few thousand rupees.”

The narrative describes the use of rubber gloves leaving no fingerprints and the spraying of a strong scent in the house to ward off sniffer dogs.

Attack on Yashomati Bafna bungalow

On the evening of 22 November 1976, Bafna Yashomati Bafna's bungalow on Shankarseth road was attacked. The group faced resistance from Bafna and her two servants and escaped by climbing the barbed wire fence of the bungalow.

Attack on Abhyankar bungalow Smriti

On 1 December, at around 8 p.m., the group attacked the Abhyankar bunglow Smriti on Bhandarkar road. Five people were at the house: noted Sanskrit scholar Kashinath Shastri Abhyankar (88), his wife Indirabai (76), their maid Sakubai Wagh (60), granddaughter Jai (21), and grandson Dhananjay (19). Gaining entry was done by ringing the doorbell. When Dhananjay opened the door, they stuffed his mouth with a ball of cloth, tied his hands, and asked him to direct them inside the house.

The men eliminated each member by stuffing their mouths with a ball of cloth, tying both their hands and legs, and strangulating with the nylon rope. Jai was stripped naked and forced to direct them to the valuables in the house before she was killed. The narrative adds that the killers stripped the last person to prevent the person from running away and to use the person as a shield while probing the interiors of the house.

Killing of Anil Gokhale

On the evening of 23 March 1977, Anil Gokhale, described as the younger brother of their college friend Jayant Gokhale, was offered a lift home by Jakkal on his motorcycle. Anil was supposed to meet his brother at Alka Talkies. Not finding his brother there, Anil took the lift back from Jakkal. He was taken to Jakkal's shed and strangulated with the nylon rope.

Anil's body was tied to an unused iron ladder, weighed down with big boulders, and dumped into the Mula-Mutha river near Bund Garden. On the evening of 24 March, the body surfaced near Yerawada.

The narrative adds that after the Hegde case was dismissed as a ‘missing person’ case, the police realized connections through information and confessions. It also notes that people stopped venturing out after 7 p.m. in the evening, with a tendency to stay indoors and nobody opening doors to strangers.

Investigation

Investigation Assistant Commissioner of Police Madhusudan Hulyalkar led the investigation. On 24 March 1977, the police team led by Police Inspector Manikrao Damame realized that the nylon ropes used to tie the body to the ladder had been fastened in a manner identical to the prior murders. This was described as the turning point for the police.

Hulyalkar realized that people last seen in the company of the deceased had to know something about the crime, leading to the four being rounded up for investigations. They were interrogated together and later individually. According to Hulyalkar, the four boys contradicted each other about their joint movements in the city over the past week.

The narrative adds that Jakkal informed the police that there was surely some connection between Hegde and Gokhale murders. It includes a conversation described as follows:

Jagtap was heard telling Sutar – “Will the police find out now?” To which Sutar is reported to have said “Don't worry, the boss will take care of the police.”

It also describes a confessional: Satish Gore, a colleague, broke down in the course of police interrogation and confessed. Further confessions were made by another classmate, Suhas Chandak, who was a witness to the Hegde killing. After the four were formally arrested on 30 March 1977, they recounted the serial killings in every detail to the police. On information provided by the killers, the barrel containing Hegde's remains was fished out of the Peshwe park lake. The police recovered a long list of incriminating evidence at Jakkal's shed on Karve road, and recovered items stolen from the households of the Joshis and Abhyankars.

In the narrative section titled “Box 1 - Cracking the case,” the following details and quotations appear:

The 78-year-old Madhusudan Hutyalkar, the retired Assistant Commissioner of Police cannot hear in one year, his eyesight is poor and he has lost most of his front teeth. But when you mention the Joshi-Abhyankar serial killings, the retired police officer perks up suddenly. So involved was Hulyalkar in the case, that after his retirement from the force in 1980, he enrolled for a MA in Psychology and later successfully completed a Ph.D in the same subject. “I was very keen to study the criminal mind in today's violent world.” According to him, the foursome had “corrupt, perverted minds”. This he felt was the result of unhappy family backgrounds and the negative environment they lived in. “One good education and nurturing of values at home can prevent more criminal minds from taking shape,” said Hulyalkar.

It also states:

According to Damame, the turning point of the case, was when they discovered the knots in the rope tied on Gokhale's body. “The similarity of the knots in all the cases, made us link the serial killings together. This is when I realised that the gang was from Pune and not from outside.”

Arrest

The killers were apprehended on 30 March 1977.

Trial

Commencement and duration

The case began on 15 May 1978 in the Pune district and lasted for more than four months.

Sentencing

On 28 September 1978, the accused were sentenced to death by Pune Sessions Court judge Waman Narayan Bapat.

Appeals

Their sentences were confirmed by the Bombay High Court on 6 April 1979. Their special leave petition against their convictions and sentences was dismissed by the Supreme Court on 17 November 1980.

Outcome

After the High Court and Supreme Courts turned down their appeals, the accused approached the President of India for a pardon. The president did not concede, and the four were hanged at the Yerawada central jail on 27 November 1983.

Aftermath

In the narrative section titled “Box 2 - Punekars' petition,” it is stated that after being sentenced to death on 28 September 1978, the accused sent a review petition to the Supreme Court and a mercy petition to the President of India. A total of 1000 prominent citizens signed a joint note addressed to the Supreme Court to argue the case on behalf of the state. It also states that the killers kept trying to delay the execution under the pretext of wanting to donate their vital organs. Shah appealed to the court stating that he wanted to translate the Koran in Marathi and hence needed more time. They also appealed to the courts that “hanging by noose” was a painful form of death and hence they should be subjected to the electric chair.

The narrative states that bereaved families took written opinions of at least 10 leading doctors who unanimously agreed that hanging by noose was the least painful of all terminal punishments, and these opinions were presented in the apex court by the bereaved families. It then states that almost six and a half years of the case had opened in the Pune courts and that the four were hanged to death on November 27, 1983.

The narrative includes a quotation attributed to Chandak:

“I would not like to discuss the case anymore, I am trying hard to forget all about it. It has affected me a lot.”

Other details

Victims and relationships mentioned

• Prakash Hegde was a colleague whose father was Sundar Hegde, and Prakash was also described as a student of Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya.
• Achyut Joshi and his wife Usha were killed; their teenaged son Anand was also killed.
• Bafna Yashomati Bafna and her two servants were involved in the events at her bungalow.
• Kashinath Shastri Abhyankar (88), Indirabai (76), Sakubai Wagh (60), Jai (21), and Dhananjay (19) were at the Abhyankar bungalow.
• Anil Gokhale was the younger brother of Jayant Gokhale and was scheduled to meet Jayant at Alka Talkies.

Film titles mentioned

• Maaficha Sakshidar (1986) starring Nana Patekar
• Paanch (2003) by Anurag Kashyap