Baig stayed in guest house: manager

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had contended in the chargesheet filed against Baig that he,along with absconding accused Yasin Bhatkal and Mohsin Choudhary,had gone to Mumbai to purchase a sack and a Nokia 1100 mobile phone,which was subsequently used as a triggering device to cause the explosion in German Bakery.

During his cross-examination by defence lawyer A Rehman,Gotekar said after his initial five-minute interaction with Baig when he had allegedly entered his name in the guest register,he had never seen the accused again. When Rehman asked him to describe the person who had stayed against the entry number (earlier claimed by Gotekar as that of Baig),he could not describe the person. Gotekar was one of five witnesses who were examined on Wednesday.

Among the five examined was Amit Mansukhlal Vira,a resident of Crawford Market who was a panch witness when the ATS had seized the guest register. Vira deposed in the court that he did not remember seeing any entry by the name ‘Mirza Himayat Inayat Baig’,but there was one by the name ‘Yusuf’. He added that there was no copy of Baig’s identity or residence proof in the guesthouse records.

It was later revealed during the examination of another witness — Gopal Narsinhrao Champute — that Baig had given the reference of Abdul Samad Indori who had earlier stayed at the guesthouse,when he could not give any identity or residence proof. Champute,owns a paan shop near the office of Priyanka Travels in Latur. He was the panch witness for seizure of booking register of the travel agency. It was by engaging this travel agency that Baig and Indori had allegedly travelled to Latur and Indore.

The two other witnesses were Regional Transport Officer of Ambejogai Mahesh Anandrao Deshmukh and social welfare officer of Beed A D Deshmukh.

Two more witnesses,including the Collector of Beed,will be examined on Thursday.