Best Bakery retrial: Hostile witness deposes

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: The retrial of the Best Bakery case took a new turn on Tuesday as witness Kallumiya Hamidmiya Shaikh, who had earlier turned hostile in the Gujarat court, deposed before judge Abhay Thipsay in the sessions court at Mazgaon.<br /><br />On June 7, 2003, Kallumiya had turned hostile before the court of judge H U Mahida in Gujarat.He had deposed that he had neither seen the bakery building nor did he know anything about the Best Bakery case. "I was passing by the DCB police station and police officials had made me sign on blank papers. I am ignorant about the family or about the bakery incident," Kallumiya had said.<br /><br />However, on Tuesday, Kallumiya, an autorickshaw driver, told the court without any inhibitions that he was one among those who went to the bakery premises, along with Panigate police officials, Zaheera Sheikh and a few others, on March 3, 2002, to conduct the panchanama.<br /><br />"I was called by police inspector Baria from the Panigate police station, one day after the bakery was burnt down. We went inside the bakery and then climbed the narrow staircase which reaches the first floor. On reaching the first floor, we entered two adjoining rooms which were completely charred. We saw burnt clothes, cupboards, and other utensils," Kallumiya said.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Kallumiya said they saw bricks, stones and splinters of broken glass bottles and bulbs on the terrace of the bakery. "Although I am not able to read and write very well, I signed the panchanama only after it was read out to me," Kallumiya said.<br /><br />C K Patel, a land record official (<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">nayab mamledar</span>) from Gujarat, who had signed the rough plan of Best bakery and its surroundings prepared by another witness Ratilal Varia, also deposed before the court. "We drew the rough plan only to give key reference points of the bakery and its surrounding. We did not do it as per scale," he said.<br /><br />The other witnesses who deposed before the court were Mohammed Hanif Mohammed Shaikh, an estate agent, and Vijaybhai Thakurbai Wagela, a jeep driver.<br /><br />The defence counsel headed by senior lawyer Adhik Shirodkar, D S Jambaulikar and Mangesh Pawar briefly crossexamined the witnesses. Later, outside the court, public prosecutor Manjula Rao said she was surprised "why the defence counsel did not crossexamine the witness today". "More witnesses, who earlier turned hostile in Gujarat, will depose. This clearly shows that the witnesses were under tremendous pressure and fear in Gujarat," Rao said.</div> </div>