Sada Pawle’s sister turns "hostile"

The contents of the affidavits filed today are in sharp contrast with what the two women had said in their earlier affidavit filed on March 2, 1998. They had said that on September 26, 1997, the day Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel were killed in a police encounter, the duo had come to Anand Pawle’s residence at Vidya Vihar and told them that they all would be going to Shirdi.

Pawle’s sister Hausabai inher affidavit said that after lunch they all set out for Shirdi in Sada’s car. While Anand and Anita occupied the front seats along with the driver, Baldev Singh, Sada, Vijay and she herself sat in the rear. The affidavit said that just when the car reached a signal, five to six gunmen surrounded their vehicle and asked them get off. Hausabai said despite repeated pleas not to shoot, the gunmen shot Pawle and Tandel in the head. Both died on the spot. Both Hausabai and Anita today appeared in the court and apologised for filing false affidavits and requested the judge to grant them pardon. While this has considerably boosted Mumbai Police’s case, which had suffered a setback during cross-examination in the Jawed Fawda case, the revelations were a big surprise for the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) which is representing the petitioners.

Now only two "eye-witnesses" to the encounter remain – Pawle’s brother Anand and driver Baldev Singh. However, CPDR counsel, P A Sebastian, todayinformed the court that both were untraceable and that he suspected they were being held forcibly by the police. The counsel representing the Mumbai Police, Harshad Ponda, however, dismissed the charge as "reckless and an attempt to malign the police force." Later, following a request by Sebastian Principal Sessions Judge A S Aguiar issued bailable production warrants against Anand Pawle and Baldev Singh and directed the police to produce the duo before him.