Cop goofs up during deposition

Inspector Manikrao Patil,attached to the Colaba police station,had conducted preliminary investigations at the three sites and sealed the articles handed over to him by the National Security Guard (NSG) after the counter-terror operations. On Monday,Patil could not remember details about the articles.

At this,the court raised doubts on the value of evidence given by Patil and asked the prosecution to examine other witnesses to prove the seizures.

Even during the sealing of the articles,Patil had goofed up by putting those seized from Hotel Taj Mahal Palace in wrappers meant for those handed over from Nariman House and vice-versa. Citing work pressure after the attack as reason behind the lapse,Patil said,“Sir,I was alone at the police station on November 29,2008,with no one to assist me,and there were so many articles,which is why I committed the error”.

Deposing on Monday,Patil could not state the exact number of articles seized. At one point,when he was asked by the court to state how many magazines were seized,Patil said ‘nine’. The court tried to correct him and on the prosecution’s request gave him the panchnama to go through it. However,Patil still said ‘nine’ instead of 16,the number of magazine sealed by him.

Patil also could not remember names of witnesses during the seizure. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam was seen getting annoyed and raising his voice at the officer asking him to depose correctly. Reacting to this,Judge Tahaliyani said,“…Why don’t you consider discharging the witness and examining the panchs. As it is,he doesn’t remember anything”. Seeing that Patil had not taken the effort to go through statements recorded by him,the court observed,“He is your natural witness. He naturally doesn’t remember anything”.

Defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi,during cross-examination of the witness,brought on record that Patil did not know the age of the panch witnesses and suggested that the panchanama was fabricated and false.