The court observed that the identification parade of the accused was carried out in a “shoddy manner” as the accused person’s identity was revealed before conducting the parade. The case dates back to March 5, 1987. At 3.30 am, as many as eight persons armed with revolvers and bombs had stormed into the Jacob Circle lockup where Babu Reshim, a notorious criminal, had been lodged.

According to the police, four armed men had forcefully taken away the keys from Constable Uttam Gharte and gained entry into the cell.

Though another constable and witness in the case Harish Ahire had tried to resist the men, they managed to break into the cell. They opened fire at Reshim, Ahire and three others. Reshim was killed in the incident while Ahire and three others sustained injuries.

Five accused—Ravi Bansi Gohar,Rajendra Sanket, Kishore Maheshwar, Mohan Dhabi and Gopi Sandekar— were arrested by the Crime Branch for their role in the incident. Three other accused were reportedly absconding.

Sandekar after spending a few months in jail was granted bail in January 1988. But in June 1992, he had jumped the bail and was declared an absconding accused.

Meanwhile, the sessions court had awarded death sentence to rest of the accused and the order was confirmed by the Bombay High Court.