Witness turns hostile, denies he talked to Chhota Shakeel

In the trial involving nexus of diamond merchant Bharat Shah with the underworld, a star witness and film financier Harish Sughand today turned hostile in a special court, denying he had talked to Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel on telephone.

He, however, admitted his own voice in the alleged talk recorded by police and also recognised the voice of actor Sanjay Dutt and film makers Mahesh Manjrekar and Sanjay Gupta and said they had talked to some person. But he denied knowing his identity.

To a question, the witness admitted that the person on the other side of the conversation had inquired whether Abu Salem had financed film Devdas and he had informed that it was Bharat Shah who had provided the funds.

The witness said Shakeel had never telephoned him.