2 testify in Ramabai firing case

According to the prosecution, the police were firing indiscriminately at the mob. 8220;We never expected Nikam to support our case. He was part of the police platoon. He is bound to shield his senior,8221; said Special Public Prosecutor Vijay Pradhan.

Another witness Namdeo Shinde, a driver of the BEST bus who had parked his vehicle near the Ramabai chawl, said in his testimony that a mob of as many as 50 people had tried to set his bus on fire. But the police doused off the fire. He also claimed that it was the police8217;s timely intervention that saved the bus.

Shinde also said that he had asked the passengers and the conductor to get out of the vehicle before the angry mob tried to set the bus on fire.

On July 11, 1997, Manohar Kadam, a state reserve police officer, had ordered his platoon to open fire on a mob of Dalits for rioting at Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar following desecration of Dr B R Ambedkar8217;s statue. As many as 10 persons were killed and 26 sustained injuries in the incident.

Following this, a commission was appointed under Justice S D Gundewar in November 1997. The commission that completed its inquiry in August 2008 indicted Kadam for firing indiscriminately on the mob.