Mumbai: By reaching a total of 44, two more witnesses declared hostile to the prosecution’s trial of Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case. So far, 62 prosecution witnesses have deposed since the trial began around six months ago.
Witness 124, Nikunj Dalvadi, and witness 125, Kiran Panchal, were declared hostile after special CBI prosecutor B P Raju, received answers denying that they knew the contents of the panchanama. “Panchal a resident of Ahmedabad in 2010 had stated said that he and his friend were stopped by a policeman in civil dress and told that police had killed Shaikh in an encounter and, since empty cartridges were to be seized, a panchanama had to be prepared,” TOI quoted.
However, while deposing as prosecution witnesses before special CBI judge S J Sharma, the two witnesses did not stand by their statements at the court. They said they had been told where to sign and refused having any knowledge of the content of the panchanama or that they ‘had seen the cartridges’.