Judge visits scene of offence to examine evidence

The judge visited Mahim where alleged members of the Chhota Shakeel gang sprayed bullets on a group of persons, including Vaidya.

A memorandum was prepared by the judge at the site where he has recorded his observations. He noted the shutter of a shop which was showered with bullets had been removed and a new one come up in its place. The enclosure where Vaidya was attacked has also undergone modification. Its roof has been demolished by municipal authorities and the stone bench on which the victims were sitting had been slightly altered.

According to the public prosecutor, the scene of offence now wore a different look compared to what it was earlier. Some portions having bullet marks did not exist. These articles were important pieces of evidence as they indicated the direction from where bullets have been fired.

In the attempt on Vaidya’s life on March 4 last year, three persons were killed and three others injured when Shakeel gangsters fired indiscriminately at people waiting outside Shiv Sena’s Mahim branch.

Among the 64 witnesses examined are Milind Vaidya and his bodyguards. Most of them are independent eyewitnesses. One of the witnesses has also identified the driver of the Maruti in which the killers arrived at the scene of crime.

Almost all of them, including Vaidya, have supported the case of the prosecution in the special court set up under MCOCA.

The court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Shakeel on August 8 last year but it was returned unexecuted. Shakeel was declared proclaimed offender on September 28 last and since then had not come before court.

In January, the court framed charges against the arrested accused — Mohammed Faroq Abdul Gafur Chipa Rangari, Aslam Mohammed Kutty, Abdul Kadar Abdul Gafur Rizvi, Mansur Hasan Iqbal Pankar, Mohammed Zuber Kasam Shaikh alias Tabrej Juganu, Fazal Mohammed Shaikh alias Manni Argamuttu Shetiyar, Abdul Hasan Bande Hasan Mistry and Azziuddin Zahiruddin Shaikh.

Those killed in the firing were Deepak Sitaram Akare (30), Vilas Gopinath Akare (28) and Milind Gunaji Choudhary (32). The injured were Nischal Krishna Choudhary (27), Vinay Narain Akare and Vaidya (then mayor).

Mohammed Zuber Kasam Shaikh alias Tabrej has urged the court to allow him to examine a press reporter who had published his photograph in a newspaper soon after his arrest. The court has yet to consider his plea. He argued that his defence had been prejudiced because he was easily identified during the identification parade by witnesses who had seen his photograph.