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Nine accused in the Gulshan Kumar murder case were on Thursday released on bail by a Mumbai trial court after four years, as evidence against them could not be established.
Sessions Judge M L Tahilyani released the accused on a plea made by the prosecution that there was no evidence against them.
The accused are: Javed Kalia, Rafiq Ansari, Wasim Babu, Feroze Khan, Fatima Merchant, Faiyaz Chougale, Rafiq Falke, Adil Khan and Jaffar Sharif.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the court did not consider the evidence of the approver, Mohammed Ali Sheikh, as he had turned hostile.
Nikam said the prosecution did not wish to adduce insufficient evidence, and hence it would be fit and proper to release the nine accused on bail.
These accused were arrested soon after the murder of the audio king, Gulshan Kumar, in August 1997. Among the 15 accused, four, including the director of Tips Cassette Ramesh Taurani, were already on bail.
The remaining two, Rauf Raja and Rashid Daud Merchant, are in custody. Raja and Merchant are facing charges of shooting Gulshan Kumar at point blank range outside a temple in suburban Juhu on August 12, 1997.
PTI
ALSO SEE Gulshan Kumar Murder: The Complete Coverage
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