Thanks to his alertness and presence of mind,over 1,000 lives were saved from the indiscriminate firing opened by arrested terrorist Ajmal Kasab and his partner Abu Ismail Khan at Chattrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station on 26/11 last year. Railway announcer Vishnu Zende,posted at the CST since 2003,was working in the suburban section on a mezzanine floor on the day. Deposing before the court on Tuesday,he said,Hearing a loud explosion in the main line hall,I started announcing that passengers from the local line hall should not proceed towards the mail line hall and they should exit through the rear gate of the station or wait inside the trains. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said,Had it not been for his prompt announcement,the death toll would have been high. At any given time,around 800 to 1,000 passengers alight from a train and there were some three-four trains scheduled to arrive in different platforms. So I alerted the policemen and passengers, Zende said. He also identified Kasab as one of the terrorists who had fired at his office before leaving the local line hall. The prosecution also examined Poonam Singh,another witness who was shot in her legs by the terrorists while she was waiting for a train to Lakhimpur along with his six-year-old son Sachin. Singh told the court that she also heard a loud sound when she was sitting with his son on the platform. Her father and brother had gone to get tickets. Sachin started running when the attackers opened fire; Singh also followed him to a safe place,but a bullet hit her. Pandurang Patil,an assistant sub inspector posted at CST and who suffered injuries in his leg in the firing,was also examined on Tuesday. Railway Police Force (RPF) inspector Sandeep Keratkar also deposed that he had fired 20 rounds on the two terrorists,but none hit them. He also identified Kasab as the person who had attacked them. The prosecution has till now examined 66 witnesses. Notes from The courtroomBackrestAfter much persuasion,the mediapersons reporting the trial finally got benches with backrest. The chairs provided on the first day of the trial were withdrawn and wooden benches provided after many reporters complained to the court that they were not being accommodated. The reporters later complained that they were getting a backache,sitting on benches without backrests. 'Naradmuni'It was a day of fierce argument between lawyers. At one point,when special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam commented that lawyer Abbas Kazmi was taking too long to cross-examine the witness. Kazmi retorted that Nikam was acting like 'Naradmuni',by instigating a fight. To this,Judge Tahaliyani said,"The fight is between you and Nikam. If a third party has instigated it,that means I am the Naradmuni. Kazmi then said,"No sir,you are the God of this court."
