MUMBAI, MARCH 27: In the first convictions in the JJ shootout case, Designated TADA Judge P K Chavare has convicted three Dawood Ibrahim associates, Subhash Singh Thakur, former chairperson of the Bhiwandi-Nizampura Municipal Council Jayant Dattatraya Suryarao and Shyam Kishore Garikapatti while acquitting six others today. Sentencing will take place tomorrow.The six accused were acquitted for want of evidence in the shootout, where a gangster owing allegiance to Arun Gawli and two constables were killed in the hospital premises on September 12, 1992.Thakur has been convicted under Section 5 (possession of terrorist weapons), Section 6 (enhanced punishment for Section 5), Section 3 (2) (terrorist act) and Section 3 (3) (aiding and abetting) of the terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986. He has also been convicted under Section 27 of the Arms Act and Section 302 (murder) and Section 307 (murderous assault) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Suryarao and Garikapatti have been convicted under Section 3 (4) (harbouring criminals) and Section 212 of the IPC.The incident was a reprisal orchestrated by Dawood Ibrahim for the killing of his brother-in-law Ibrahim Ismail Parkar (38) in his Nagpada hotel on July 26, 1992. It was suspected that Gawli's men, including Haldankar, was among the assailants.Gangsters owing allegiance to Ibrahim had barged into ward number 18 on the hospital's third floor and shot Gawli gangster 24-year-old Shailesh Shankar Haldankar dead. Haldankar and another Gawli associate, Bipin Eknath Shere, had been arrested on September 2, 1992, and admitted to J J Hospital the same day as they had been allegedly beaten by the V P Road police.An armed police party comprising a Sub-Inspector, Krishnavatar Thakur, and two constables, Vijay Nagare and K B Bhanawat, was stationed in the ward to maintain a vigil on Haldankar.At around 3.40 am, a group of criminals armed with AK 47 and other automatic weapons stormed into the ward and fired indiscriminately at Haldankar and the police. Two policemen, P G Javsen and Bhanavat, died on the spot. Haldankar died a few hours later. Five others, including a nurse and a patient, were injured. The criminals then escaped along with their injured associates.Suryarao had used his official vehicle to transport the injured gangsters to help them evade arrest besides ordering his driver to tear the relevant pages of the log book to destroy evidence.The trial, which began in April 1999, has been conducted on a day-to-day basis. Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian appeared for the state. Advocates including Harshad Ponda, Nitin Pradhan, Sudeep Pasbola and Pradeep Mahajan had appeared for many of the accused.
