Thane, A Thane court has acquitted an absconding couple in a 37‑year‑old attempt to murder case, noting the prolonged delay caused the prosecution to lose track of every witness, and that the case documents were damaged and unreadable. Court acquits absconding couple in 37-yr-old murder bid case; cites no witnesses, unreadable records There is absolutely nothing on record which would even remotely indicate the involvement and active participation of the accused in the case, Additional Sessions Judge P R Ashturkar of the Kalyan court said in the order on Monday while acquitting Lalitmohan Devendranath Duggal and his wife Rita Lalitmohan Duggal. The couple was booked under sections 307 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly executing an acid attack on their neighbour following a dispute over garbage disposal at Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra’s Thane district on April 6, 1989. The case was transferred from the district court to the Kalyan sessions court in 1996 and remained pending for nearly three decades because the accused jumped bail and disappeared. Acting on the high court directives …