The Manjunath murder trial began today at Lakhimpur district and sessions judge S M A Abidi’s court. Two key witnesses, ASI Ram Bhawan Singh, and constable Asha Ram, were examined today. Ram Bhawan Singh was leading the police team that had intercepted the car carrying the body of Manjunath Shanmugam, an IIM-Lucknow graduate, in an area under Mehauli Police Station of Sitapur district a day after he was murdered. Two persons in the car had been arrested by the team. Today, the ASI identified them in court. Manjunath was allegedly killed on November 19, 2005, at Mittal Automobile petrol pump at Gola Gokarn in Lakhimpur Kheri district. Eight persons, including Monnu Mittal, the son of the owner of the petrol pump, are being tried in the case. The other accused are Harish, Rakesh Kumar, Vivek Sharma, Lalla Giri, Rajesh Verma, Devesh Agnihotri and Sanjay Awasthi. H Jaishanker and Anjali, associated with the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust, flew in from Bangalore to observe the proceedings. I B Singh, a leading High Court lawyer, is fighting the case on behalf of Manjunath Trust. After a delay in presenting the accused in the court, a wait that had public prosecutor Chandra Mohan Singh visibly upset, the proceedings finally began at noon. An advocate later told The Indian Express that the accused were brought to the court on time, but “the cops escorting the prisoners’ van had trouble entering the court due to media presence.” Main witness recalls: Before being examined, Ram Bhagwan recalled the episode leading to the arrest of the accused. “It was about 8 am on November 20 when I intercepted a Maruti car” carrying Manjunath’s body, ASI Ram Bhawan told the judge, and narrated the whole episode. His team had arrested Vivek Sharma and Rakesh Anand, who were in the vehicle. Asked by public prosecutor to identify the duo, Ram Bhagwan turned towards the dock and identified them. After the defence lawyers asked over three-dozen questions over his statement recorded in the court, the judge deferred Ram Bhawan’s examination to the post-lunch session. At 2 pm, the ASI was again in the court to face the defence lawyers. “I was confident narrating the incident before judge-sahib,” Ram Bhagwan later told The Indian Express. “This is part of my duty.” People throng court • LAKHIMPUR KHERI: It was quite unusual. A huge crowd, numbering hundreds, had turned up at the district and sessions court on Monday to witness the proceedings in the Manjunath murder trial. Extra chairs were placed to accommodate those eager to witness the proceedings. —ENS
