93 Bomb Blast Case: Yakub Memon Death Sentence Appeal Supreme Court Judgement: Part 022
Deposition of Prosecution Witnesses:
Deposition of Ravindra Sitaram Vichare (PW-17)
294) The deposition of PW-17 was recorded on 20.11.1995. The relevant material in his evidence is as follows:-
(i) He deposed that at the relevant time, he was working as a bellboy at Hotel Centaur, Juhu.
(ii) On 12.03.1993, around 11:45 am, one guest got down from the motor taxi and was carrying a light blue coloured briefcase type bag.
(iii) He took the bag from the hands of the guest and kept it in the Baggage Section.
(iv) After sometime, the guest came to the Baggage Section and picked up his bag and enquired about the lift for going to the room.
(v) He showed the way towards the lift to the guest.
(vi) At around 3:00/3:30 p.m., when he was in the lobby of the Hotel, there was a loud sound of explosion.
(vii) He identified the appellant (A-44) before the court in the dock as the person who came to the Hotel on 12.03.1993.
(viii) He also identified the appellant in the identification parade dated 07.06.1993 conducted by Special Executive Magistrate, Vaman D. Sapre (PW-249) at Santacruz Police Station.
Deposition of Milind Purushottam Kamble (PW-18)
The deposition of PW-18 was recorded on 22.11.1995 and he deposed that:
(i) At the relevant time, he was working as an attendant in the House Keeping Department of Hotel Centaur, Juhu.
(ii) On 12.03.1993, the appellant (A-44) enquired from him about the location of Room No. 3078 in the Hotel.
(iii) Floor Supervisor, who was also present with PW-18, pointed out towards Room No. 3078.
(iv) He saw the appellant (A-44) entering into Room No. 3078 with a light blue color suitcase.
(v) Thereafter, the appellant (A-44) came out of the room and left saying that he is going to the restaurant to meet someone and will return shortly. At that time, he was not carrying the blue suitcase.
(vi) He identified the appellant (A-44) before the Court in the dock as the person who kept the suitcase in Room No. 3078.
(vii) He also identified the appellant (A-44) in the identification parade held on 07.06.1993 conducted by the Special Executive Magistrate, Vaman D. Sapre (PW-249).
(viii) He also identified Article No. 9 (coat), Article No. 10 (black pant) and Article No. 11 (white shirt) being clothes worn by the appellant (A-44) on 12.03.1993 when he visited the Hotel.
295) From the perusal of the testimony of PWs-17 and 18, it is clear that the witnesses established the identity of the person, who planted the suitcase in the hotel, as the appellant. They very well proved how the appellant went to the room where the blast took place. The presence of witnesses in the hotel at the time when the appellant went to the hotel for planting the suitcase has been fully established. The witnesses have withstood the lengthy cross-examination and established themselves as credible and reliable witnesses.
Deposition of Nitin Sumitran (PW-260)
The deposition of PW-260 was recorded on 13.01.1998. He deposed that:
(i) At the relevant time, he was working as a receptionist at Hotel Centaur, Juhu.
(ii) On 08.03.1993, a male person, aged about 30 to 35 years, approached the Front Desk and told that he was having a reservation in the name of one Mr. Sanjeev Rai and that he had come to make an advance payment of Rs.5,000/- towards reservation of the room.
Deposition of Sanjay Manohar Dalvi (PW-261)
The deposition of PW-261 was recorded on 13.01.1998. He deposed that at the relevant time, he was working as the Front Office Cashier and he confirmed that a room was booked at Hotel Centaur, Juhu by one Mr. Sanjeev Rai on 08.03.1993 and he issued a receipt of Rs.5,000/- (Exh. 1093) as advance payment towards the room rent.
Deposition of Cedric Merwyn Creado (PW-262)
The deposition of PW-262 was recorded on 13.01.1998. He deposed that:
(i) At the relevant time, he was working as a Front Office Receptionist and on 11.03.1993, a male person came to the desk and enquired for a room.
(ii) He asked him as to whether he has any prior reservation, on which, he replied that he was having a reservation in the name of Sanjeev Rai.
(iii) He gave him a registration card which he returned after filling the same.
(iv) On verification of the card, he found that the name was mentioned as ‘Gyanchandani Lalit’ and the address was 501, Bel Air Apartment, Linking Road, Bandra, Bombay. As the booking was made in the name of Sanjeev Rai, he asked him as to why he has written a different name on which he replied that since people know him by this name that is why he had mentioned the said name.
(v) He deleted the name and re-wrote the name as Sanjeev Rai on the Registration Card. A corrected reservation slip (Exh. 1096) was also prepared by the Hotel staff.
(vi) Thereafter, PW-262 allotted Room No. 3078 to him and gave him the keys of the room.
Deposition of Titus Peter Paul Pinto (PW-102)
The deposition of PW-102 was recorded on 27.09.1996. PW-102 is a resident of Bel Air Apartment since 1963 and he is the Secretary of the said Cooperative Housing Society. He deposed that there is no flat bearing No. 501 in the said Apartment. He further deposed that no occupant by the name of Sanjeev Rai or Gyanchandani Lalit was living at the relevant time in that building.
Deposition of Ravindra Mahadev Kolte (PW-322)
The deposition of PW-322 was recorded on 27.04.1998. He deposed that:
(i) At the relevant time, he was working as an Assistant Security Officer at Hotel Centaur, Juhu. He also described about the scene of the blast.
(ii) Three persons were injured in the blast on 12.03.1993 at 15:30 hrs. in Room No. 3078.
(iii) The ceiling and flooring of the said room were completely destroyed and the occupant of the said room was not present in the room at the time of blast.
(iv) He also made a complaint which was registered as C.R. No. 155/1993.
Deposition of Jaisingh Shivajirao Patil, Police Officer, (PW-544)
The deposition of PW-544 was recorded on 10.12.1999. In his deposition, he deposed that:-
(i) He inspected the scene of the blast in the presence of panch witness Tiyadath R. Nair (PW-438) and prepared a spot panchnama Exh. No. 1414.
(ii) He also prepared a panchnama dated 15.03.1993 of four sealed sample packets containing debris collected by the experts from FSL marked as Exh. No. 1859 in the presence of Sadashiv M. Pattanshetti (PW-549).
(iii) He also proved that he recorded FIR being C.R. No. 155/1993 marked as Exh. No. 1208.
(iv) The aforesaid articles which were seized by him were sent to the forensic lab for examination.
(v) FSL Reports (Exh. Nos. 2604 and 2605) show the presence of traces of High Explosive substance, viz., RDX on these articles.
Deposition of Sridhar M. Pandit (PW-355)
At the relevant time, he was working as GM (Technical), Hotel Corporation of India. He deposed that he inspected the site of the explosion and the estimated damage at Hotel Centaur, Juhu came to the tune of Rs. 2.1 crores.
Deposition of Ketan Kantilal Shah (PW-433)
He was the guest staying at the Hotel at the relevant time and has proved the injuries sustained by him on account of the explosion in the Hotel on 12.03.1993.
Deposition of Vaman Dhondu Sapre, Special Executive Magistrate (PW-249)
He is the person who conducted TIP on 07.06.1993 at Santacruz Police Station in which the appellant (A-44) was identified by PWs-17 and 18 and has proved the TIP panchnama Exh. No. 1071 dated 07.06.1993.
Deposition of Ramesh Pandurang Bhasare (PW-74)
He is a panch witness who was running a cigarette-bidi stall at Zaveri Bazaar at the relevant time and he deposed as under:
(i) The appellant (A-44) made a statement in the office of Crime Branch on 19.05.1993.
(ii) Thereafter, the appellant (A-44) led the police party and panchas to a Footwear Shop at Khambekar Street and took out the keys from a pit like portion on the roof.
(iii) The police party was further taken to Room No. 12 of a building opposite to Building No. 160 which was locked.
(iv) The appellant opened the lock with the keys which he had taken out from the pit.
(v) Thereafter, from a cupboard, the appellant (A-44) took out a black coat, black pant, white shirt and two keys marked as Article 258-B(i).
(vi) The police party recovered the aforesaid articles vide discovery panchnama marked as Exhibit 389.
The eye witness at the hotel has also identified the above cloth as the same which was worn by the appellant (A-44) at the time of planting of suitcase bomb.
Evidence in respect of the unexploded scooter parked in front of DP Jewellers at Zaveri Bazaar:
Deposition of Shashikant Ramkumar Shukla (PW-26).
296) PW-26 is an eye witness to the incident who witnessed the parking of the said scooter by the appellant (A-44) in front of the shop of D.P. Jewellers, Zaveri Bazaar. He deposed that:
(i) At the relevant time, he was the owner of a cutlery shop at Vithalwadi Naka, Zaveri Bazaar.
(ii) On 12.03.1993, he saw the appellant (A-44) quarelling with a car driver in front of D.P. Jewellers, Zaveri Bazaar for parking space. He forcibly parked the grey coloured scooter with Registration No. MH- 05-TC 16 and left the place on the pretext of offering namaz at ‘Juma Masjid’.
(iii) On 16.03.1993, he learnt that the scooter parked in front of the shop of D.P. Jewellers, Zaveri Bazaar contained explosives.
(iv) Thereafter, he went to Lokmanya Tilak Marg Police Station to see the scooter which was taken into custody by the police. There, he met PI Subhash Jadhav who recorded his statement and showed him two scooters. He identified the scooter which was parked in front of the shop of D.P. Jewellers at Zaveri Bazaar.
(v) He also identified the appellant (A-44) before the court in the dock as the person who had parked the scooter
(vi) He also identified the appellant (A-44) in the Identification Parade dated 04.06.1993 conducted by Sharad Vichare, Special Executive Magistrate, (PW-459).
Deposition of Shantaram Sakharam Sigwan (PW-27) (eye-witness).
PW-27 is a salesman working at Shop No. 263, Shaikh Memon Street, Zaveri Bazaar. He deposed that:
(i) He saw the appellant (A-44) arguing with a car driver to park his scooter in front of D.P. Jewellers. After forcibly parking his grey scooter No. MH-05-TC-16, the appellant left on the pretext of offering namaz at ‘Juma Masjid’.
(ii) On 12.03.1993, an explosion took place in front of the shop of Narayandas Jewellers and there was panic in the locality and all the shop keepers closed their shops and everyone left for their home.
(iii) On 16.03.1993, he learnt from a feriwala that the police have seized a scooter which was parked in front of the shop of D.P. Jewellers.
(iv) He, thereafter, went to the police station and noticed that a grey scooter bearing Registration No. MH-05-TC-16 was parked in the compound of the police station.
(v) He identified the scooter and PI Jadhav recorded his statement.
(vi) He also identified the appellant (A-44) before the court in the dock as the person who had parked the scooter.
(vii) PW-27 also identified the appellant (A-44) in the TIP conducted on 04.06.1993 by Sharad S. Vichare, Special Executive Magistrate, (PW-
459) and Memorandum Panchnama Exh. No. 1461 was prepared for the same.
297) The eye witnesses discussed above clearly established the following facts:
(i) the appellant (A-44) came on a scooter at the relevant time.
(ii) the appellant (A-44) had a sort of quarrel with a car driver with regard to parking.
(iii) the appellant (A-44) tried to forcibly park the said scooter, which drew the attention of the witnesses.
(iv) the appellant (A-44) left the place on the pretext of offering namaz.
(v) the identity of the appellant (A-44) is fully established and he has been identified by both the witnesses in TIP.
Deposition of Subhash Dattaram Jadhav (PW-547)
At the relevant time, PW-547 was working as PI with LT Marg Police Station. He deposed that:
(i) He received a message that an unclaimed scooter has been found parked in front of DP Jewellers at Zaveri Bazaar.
(ii) He visited Zaveri Bazaar along with Panch Witness Shambhu K. Dwadiga (PW-451).
(iii) He inspected the scooter and noticed that there were black spots outside the dicky of the scooter which was locked. He further deposed that the handle of the scooter was free.
(iv) Since blast had already occurred in Bombay, he got suspicious and, accordingly, sent a message to the control room for sending Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS).
(v) Meanwhile, he cordoned off the area where the scooter was parked and sand bags were placed around the scooter and two panch witnesses, namely, Shri Shambhu (PW-451) and Shri Prasanna were also called.
(vi) Nand Kumar Chaugule (PW-444), an officer of BDDS, reached the spot along with his team and inspected the vehicle.
(vii) PW-444 found that there was a layer of brownish oily substance at the top, and thereafter, a layer of blackish oily substance and below the blackish substance, again one brownish layer was present in the dicky. He also noticed that the said cakes were also containing some pallets.
(viii) PW-547 further deposed that PW-444 took away three metallic tubes and one pipe with holes from the said three layers. The materials recovered were sealed in packets, and thereafter, wrapped in a brown paper.
(ix) PW-444 prepared a spot panchnama dated 15.03.1993 and instructed the police constable to take the scooter to LT Marg Police Station.
(x) On 10.06.1993, SI Dastagir Ghavandi (PW-552) handed over two keys seized by him during investigation of C.R. No. 155/1993.
(xi) On the same day, he called Vijay Ramji Wala (PW-454), Supervisor and Mr. Ajit Vanjari (PW-651) of Vasan Automobiles and in the presence of the two panchas, he gave the said two keys to PW-454 to check whether the same fits in the lock of the scooter which was parked in front of D.P. Jewellers. PW-454 was able to apply the keys to the said scooter.
(xii) He then drew a panchnama which is marked as Exh. No. 1868 stating that the keys found matched with all the three locks of the scooter, i.e., dicky lock, steering lock and the helmet-box lock. The deposition of PW-547 has proved that:
(i) A scooter was reported abandoned in front of D.P. Jewellers at Zaveri Bazaar.
(ii) The condition in which the scooter was found aroused suspicion.
(iii) PW-444 was called from BDDS who successfully diffused the bomb fitted in the front side dicky of the scooter. (the substance subsequently was found to be RDX).
(iv) The witness, in front of the independent witnesses, also checked that the keys recovered at the instance of the appellant fitted in the scooter.
FOR FULL JUDGEMENT, PLEASE CHECK THE LINKS BELOW:
93 Bomb Blast Case: Yakub Memon Death Sentence Appeal Supreme Court Judgement:
Part 001 / Part 002 / Part 003 / Part 004 / Part 005 / Part 006 / Part 007 / Part 008 / Part 009 / Part 010 / Part 011 / Part 012 / Part 013 / Part 014 / Part 015 / Part 016 / Part 017 / Part 018 / Part 019 / Part 020 / Part 021 / Part 022 / Part 023 / Part 024 / Part 025 / Part 026 / Part 027 / Part 028 / Part 029 / Part 030 / Part 031 / Part 032 / Part 033 / Part 034 / Part 035 / Part 036 / Part 037 / Part 038 / Part 039 / Part 040 / Part 041 / Part 042 / Part 043 / Part 044 / Part 045
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TAGS:
Supreme Court Of India, Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, Death Sentence, Confirmed, Sentence, Appeal, Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Momon, 93 Bomb Blast, Mumbai Bomb Blast, Don, Gangster, Mafia, Sanjay Dutt, Death Penalty, Serial Blast, Mumbai, maharashtra, India, State Of Maharashtra, CBI, Prosecution, Babri Masjid, Ayodhya, demolition, violence, terrorist, Bombay, arms, ammunitions, conspiracy, Dubai, Pakistan, training, Bombay Stock Exchange, Katha Bazaar, Sena Bhavan, Century Bazaar, Mahim Causeway, Air India Building, Zaveri Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Plaza Theatre, Juhu Centaur Hotel, AirPort Bay-54, AirPort Centaur Hotel, terrorist attack, terror, RDX, Research Department Explosive, Md. Ahmed Dosa, Md. Salim Mira Moiddin Shaikh @ Salim Kutta, Md. Kasam Lajpuria, Ranjitkumar Singh Baleshwar Prasad, Md. Sultan Sayyed, Dighi Jetty, Raigad, Uttan,
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