MAPUSA
A Mapusa court has dismissed a dischargeapplication filed by a Delhi-based waiter accused of stabbing the manager ofWhite Flower Cottages at Vagator in the neck with a knife and ordered that acharge be framed against him for attempt to murder.
In an order delivered on Friday, AdditionalSessions Judge Apurva Nagvenkar held that there was sufficient material onrecord to frame a charge against Mohammad Ashraf under Section 109(1) of theBharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The incident had occurred in March this yearnear the bar counter of the resort at Coutinho Waddo, Vagator.
Ashraf, who was working as a waiter at theresort, allegedly got into an argument with the manager, Sunil Singh, beforetaking a knife from the bar counter and stabbing him in the neck with theintention of killing him. Other staff members intervened and took the knifeaway from the accused.
Opposing the discharge application, public prosecutorR Barretto submitted that the prosecution had sufficient evidence to proceedagainst Ashraf, including CCTV footage, the victim’s complaint, eyewitnessstatements and the knife allegedly used in the assault.
The prosecution also argued that the nature ofthe weapon, the part of the body targeted and the circumstances of the assaultwere relevant while deciding whether to frame a charge of attempt to murder.
Finding sufficient material to proceed withthe case, the court dismissed Ashraf’s discharge application and ordered that acharge be framed against him under Section 109(1) of the BNS. The prosecutioncase will now proceed before the trial court.
