On July 12, 2013, the sessions court had acquitted encounter specialist and police inspector Pradeep Sharma observing that there is no direct or circumstantial evidence to show his involvement in the case.

According to the sessions court, the prosecution evidence against Sharma was “weak” to arrive at a conclusion that he had led the police team.

The court, however, convicted 21 persons, including 13 policemen, and sentenced them to life imprisonment on charges of murder.

The lawyers for the four appellants, Abad Ponda and Subhash Jadhav, argued that only evidence against them is the statement of Anil Bheda, who was allegedly kidnapped along with Ramnarayan and later released.