2 witnesses depose in Surat home

The trial court,based in Himmatnagar (Sabarkantha district),had appointed an advocate as Court Commission who recorded the two depositions in the presence of prosecution and defence earlier this month.

SIT sources said that Ayesha is originally from Fiji,while Abdul Hai is from Gujarat. They had got married and settled down in the UK.

In their recent visit to Gujarat,the court had issued them summons to depose. But they moved an application expressing inability to come to court.

Investigating Officer,Superintendent of Police Himanshu Shukla said that after considering the case of the two and their old age and illness,the court decided to appoint a commission to record their statements. Advocate Ismail Kovadia was appointed as the court commissioner.

In 2002,Shakeel and three other relatives had come to visit Gujarat. They were on their way back to south Gujarat from Jaipur in a Tata Sumo when the vehicle was attacked by a mob and torched near Prantij in Sabarkantha district. Three persons were killed while Shakeel went missing. He is now presumed dead.

The police have arrested six people ever since.

The case is one of the nine cases that have been further investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). Trial of the case is being conducted at Himmatnagar by Special Trial Judge H P Patel.

Earlier in April,the court had recorded statements of two foreign-based witnesses through video-conferencing. One of them was the complainant in the case,Imran Dawood,also the cousin of Shakeel,who was with him in the ill-fated Tata Sumo.