The Hindu : Front Page : Zahira's elder brother also turns hostile

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Saturday, Nov 20, 2004

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Front Page

Zahira's elder brother also turns hostile

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, NOV. 19. A day after Zahira's younger brother, Nasibullah, turned hostile, her elder brother, Nafitullah, told the court today that when the Best Bakery was attacked, he could not see anything as there was a lot of smoke.

Nafitullah said he was on the terrace of his house adjacent to the bakery during the attack, but he did not know when he came down. He was injured in the riots and was in hospital for one and a half months. He said he did not know the name of his daughter by his first wife, Yasmin, who is one of the eyewitnesses in the case.

The special public prosecutor, Manjula Rao, then sought permission to cross-examine him, as he had turned hostile.

Nafitullah went missing from the Gujarat Government guesthouse here on October 24, leaving behind his second wife, Heena (Kailash), and two children.

Nafitullah admitted that he had come to this court once before on October 21 with the Maharashtra police to seek permission to stay with his wife and children. He said he left the guesthouse without telling anyone. He went to Baroda recently because social activist Teesta Setalvad, Rais Khan and "another goonda" had threatened him and his family one or two months earlier. He did not get an opportunity to file a complaint as they kept him under "surveillance." Though he came to this court on October 21 he did not complain about these threats as, "I was frightened as Teesta was here."

"We left Baroda one month after the case was over in 2003, and were forcibly brought to Teesta Setalvad's house," he said. He admitted to receiving threats from Madhu Srivastav, (a BJP MLA), and he knew him as a leader. He had also filed a complaint against Srivastav on September 27, 2003.

'No occupation'

"I was with Teesta earlier and she was not allowing me to do any work, where is the question of any occupation," he told the court. However, he admitted that Ms. Setalvad paid the rent for his flat at Santa Cruz, where he was living for several months, and provided rations and other requirements. Her organisation paid money every month for the family's upkeep, ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 600 a week. His second child was born at a nursing home in Santa Cruz and Ms. Setalvad paid all the expenses during the four to five days. He did not know if she was also paying for his mother and other family members.

Nafitullah said he knew that his mother, two sisters and younger brother were staying at Mira Road-Bhayander as he had heard about it in Ms. Setalvad's office. After leaving the guesthouse, earlier this month, he had gone to meet his mother and the rest of his family. Later, the Maharashtra police handed over his wife and children to his mother at a police station. The entire family left for Baroda where they contacted an organisation called Jan Adhikar Samiti for help. He said it arranged and paid for the press conference, at Zahira's behest at Surya Palace hotel in Baroda. The samiti was "bearing our expenses."

Nafitullah said Atul Mistry was their lawyer and the samiti was taking care of their stay and advocate's fees. There was also another lawyer, Jal Unwalla.

He said he did not know what Zahira had said at the conference and he had watched some part of it on television. He spoke to the press after Zahira and told them that Ms. Setalvad and Rais Khan used to keep his children under surveillance. "I was also kept under watch," he said.

The additional sessions judge, Abhay Thipsay, repeatedly pulled up Nafitullah for not replying to questions, for saying whatever he felt like in response to questions and for speaking very softly. The re-trial will resume on Monday.

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