Bombay HC Upholds Abdul Rauf's Conviction. Here's A Timeline Of Gulshan Kumar Murder Case
On August 12, 1997, T-series owner Gulshan Kumar walked out of his red Opel car towards a temple in the midst of the slums at Jeet Nagar in Versova when he was shot dead.?Three assailants had shot 16 bullets killing him on the spot.
Today, the Bombay High Court has upheld the conviction of?Abdul Rauf Merchant, an aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Along with that, the court also dismissed an appeal by the Maharashtra state government against the acquittal of accused Ramesh Taurani of?Tips Industries.?
Here is the timeline of events in the Gulshan Kumar murder case.
Aug 5, 1997:?Gulshan Kumar had received the first threatening call.
Aug 8, 1997: Once again, a threatening call was made. He told them to carry out their "dharma" as he was carrying out his own.
Aug 12, 1997: Gulshan Kumar was murdered.?
Aug 30, 1997: Nadeem Akhtar, music composer of Nadeem-Shravan duo, was declared a co-conspirator. It was said that Nadeem was offended when Kumar didn't give him due credit for his album Hai Ajanabi. However, later, Nadeem was acquitted in the case and since then he is in the UK.?
Oct 1997: The owner of Tips Industries Ramesh Taurani was accused of abetting the murder. It was said that he paid Rs 25 lakh for the crime. Tips cassettes was a rival of Kumar's T-Series at that point in time.?
Nov 1997: The Police filed a 400-page charge sheet accusing 26 people. As per the charge sheet, the plan to kill Kumar was made in Dubai in the office of Anees, Dawood Ibrahim's brother.
Jan 2001: Abdul Rauf, one of the assassins, was arrested in Kolkata.
June 2001: The trial of Gulshan Kumar murder case began.?
April 2002: A Sessions court in Mumbai convicted Abdul Rauf Merchant of murder.?
2009: Rauf Merchant fled to Bangladesh after being granted furlough by Bombay High Court.?
2016: He was deported after serving jail term in Bangladesh for trespassing and possessing a fake passport. He then appealed against his conviction and life sentence.
July 1, 2021: Bombay High Court upheld Abdul Rauf's conviction.? ?
