Gujarat: Alleged serial killer gets life term for murdering jeweller in 2019

Ahmedabad: A Gandhinagar sessions court has sentenced alleged serial killer Madan Nayak, who operated under multiple aliases including Vishal, Mahesh, and Monish, to life imprisonment for the murder of a jeweller in June 2019. The 43-year-old, who is accused of killing four people in all, was tried on circumstantial evidence in the case.According to the case details, the victim, Vishal Patel, ran a jewellery shop in the Krishnanagar area and was reported missing by his family on June 29, 2019. In Sep 2019, CID (Crime) informed city police that Nayak had been arrested on Sep 15 in connection with three murders. During interrogation, he confessed to killing Patel as well.
Nayak told investigators that he had known Patel since 2014 and had routinely sold him jewellery stolen from his victims. According to his confession, he called Patel from a telephone booth in Naroda Gam and asked him to meet at SP Ring Road. He then drove Patel to Dehgam Road, shot him in the head, dumped the body in a roadside gutter, and set the car ablaze at a deserted location to destroy evidence. Acting on Nayak's confession, police launched an investigation and recovered the remains of Patel's body from the gutter near Dastan Farm. Forensic analysis confirmed that the skeletal remains belonged to Patel. His burnt car was also found. The trial against Nayak was entirely based on circumstantial evidence. Additional public prosecution Ajay Trivedi examined 42 witnesses and submitted 40 pieces of documentary evidence, including the FSL reports, to establish Nayak's guilt. The court held that Nayak knew Patel, killed him, disposed of the body and torched the car to destroy evidence. During sentencing, Nayak appealed for leniency, citing his responsibility toward his wife and son. The prosecution argued for the maximum penalty as a deterrent. Additional sessions judge M P Purohit, however, ruled out the death penalty, stating the case did not meet the threshold of the "rarest of rare" doctrine. The court said, "After considering the circumstances of the accused, it is not deemed appropriate to impose the maximum penalty of death, as there are no circumstances that classify the offence as one of the rarest of rare cases. Therefore, the minimum sentence of life imprisonment is considered appropriate." Three murder cases are still pending against Nayak.