Cops fail to prove case

MUMBAI, Oct 5: The designated TADA court today sentenced four persons accused in the murder of former Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Mumbai...

MUMBAI, Oct 5: The designated TADA court today sentenced four persons accused in the murder of former Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Mumbai president Ramdas Nayak to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined them Rs 2000 each for possession of firearms. These four, and seven others, were, however, acquitted of conspiracy charges following 8220;prosecution8217;s failure to prove its case.8221;

Nayak and his bodyguard were gunned down outside former8217;s Hill Road, Bandra residence by two assailants in August 1994. One of the prime suspects in the case, dreaded sharpshooter Feroze Kokani, was arrested two months later from a hotel in Bangalore and his arrest led the police to other suspects.

Weapons like AK-56, AK-47, revolvers, swords, guptis were recovered from the accused. The case against Kokani, who escaped from police custody in May this year from JJ Hospital after killing a police constable, is being tried separately.

Today, Rizwan Mohammed Ibrahim Sayed, Siraj Nisar Ahmed Khan, Mohammed Feroz Ayub Khan andRafique Latif Shaikh were convicted under Section 5 of TADA and Sections 3 read with Section 25 and Section 7 read with 27 of the Arms Act by TADA Judge S M Deshmukh. All the accused are in police custody since October 1994. Those acquitted included Abdulla Abdul Rehman, Safique Latif Shaikh, Gurunamsingh alias Chotu Surjeet Singh, Salim Khan Dingarkar, Harun Mohammed Hanif Shaikh, Azim Khan Sardar Khan and Mohammed Mushraf Hussain Shaikh. All Chhota Shakeel men.

According to Special Public Prosecutor Kalpana Chavan a criminal conspiracy was hatched in May 1994 by Kokani, Saiyyad Ali Mohammed Yusuf alias Soni who was later killed in a police encounter in Delhi, Rizwan and others at the instance of Chhota Shakeel. Chavan told the court Kokani had asked for some sophisticated arms from his sources abroad to kill Nayak and had managed to procure weapons like AK-56, AK- 47, a .38 bore revolver, hand grenades and other ammunition from Bharuch which was transported into the city concealed in the secret cavityof a Fiat car MMO-8373. Chavan further told the court that Rizwan, the son of an advocate, had helped Kokani and Soni with accommodation in Andheri and Vile Parle respectively.

Chavan said that after keeping a watch on Nayak8217;s activities outside his residence at Hill Road, Bandra for many days Kokani and Soni on August 25, 1994 opened fire at Nayak outside his residence. While Nayak and his police bodyguard died on the spot, his driver and two passer-bys were seriously injured. Kokani and Soni escaped on a stolen motorcycle and later escaped in an autorickshaw. The lawyer told the court that Rizwan had helped the assailants by changing the number plates of both the car and the motorcycle.

In all 57 witnesses including four eye-witnesses were examined. Kokani was identified by all the four eye-witnesses. The case was investigated by Police Inspector Vinayak Kadam, APIs Nerekar and Mali, PSIs Nerendra Singh and Sohail Buddha under the guidance of Assistant Commissioner of Police Retired Issac Samson.The accused were represented by advocates Vijay Pradhan, Sanjay Sawant, J G Bhanushali, Sameer Rajguru, P S Mahajan, O A Siddiqui, C K Talekar and S Sohani.Acirc;sup2;