The Hindu : National : Zahira likely to appear in Mumbai court today

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Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

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National

Zahira likely to appear in Mumbai court today

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD, NOV. 16. The key eye-witness and the main complainant in the Best Bakery communal riot case, Zahira Sheikh, is expected to appear before the Mumbai court in response to the summons tomorrow, her advocate, Atul Mistry, said.

Mr. Mistry, however, did not say what stand Ms. Sheikh would take in the court tomorrow after shecreated a sensation by retracting her earlier statement and blamed the voluntary organisation run by the social activist, Teesta Setalvad, of having forced her to "tell lies" in the court.

He also declined to disclose her whereabouts. It is believed she is still somewhere in Ahmedabad but possibly not in the same club resort where she was lodged after her Vadodara media conference in which she retracted her earlier statements.

Meanwhile, the Union Textile Minister, Shankarsinh Waghela, suspected the "direct hand" of the Gujarat Government in the Zahira Sheikh episode and demanded a CBI inquiry to investigate the circumstances under which she changed her stand and turned hostile to protect the accused in the carnage on March 1, 2002.

Talking to media persons here today, Mr. Waghela said the way the State Government had granted her police protection and was `hiding' her, were enough to make people suspicious about the Government's "direct and indirect" involvement in the entire episode. "Something is fishy," he said.

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