The Hindu : National : Poonam Mahajan deposes before court

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Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
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National

Poonam Mahajan deposes before court

Staff Reporter

Poonam Mahajan

MUMBAI: Poonam Mahajan, daughter of the slain BJP leader, Pramod Mahajan, deposed before a city court on Monday in the ongoing murder trial.

Poonam Mahajan, who lives in an adjacent apartment block, told the court that she had spoken to her father at 7.30 a.m. on April 22, 2006, just minutes before Pravin Mahajan allegedly shot Pramod Mahajan at point blank range. Pramod Mahajan died 12 days later.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam conducted the examination during which she told the court about a phone call at about 7.50 a.m. from their domestic help Mahesh Wankhede. Her husband Anandrao answered the call and said Pramod Mahajan had been shot. She said she ran to the residence and saw him lying on a sofa and bleeding. She said he was rushed to hospital in their car though she did not go with them.

Poonam Mahajan also informed additional sessions judge Srihari Davre, whose transfer has been postponed in order to complete this trial, about the belongings of Pramod Mahajan.

She said that after Mahajan’s death she took his personal belongings such as phone and stationery.

She got a call from her mother Rekha Mahajan nearly a year later asking her if she had her father’s phone and that the police wanted it for investigation purposes. When she switched on the phone she found there was a message in Hindi from Pravin Mahajan, hinting at dire consequences.

During cross examination, defence counsel Harshad Ponda asked her about her knowledge of computers.

He asked if she knew software which allows sending backdated messages to phone, and suggested that it was used in this case. She replied in the negative.

During cross examination Poonam became emotional and started crying.

She looked at Pravin Mahajan and exclaimed that this man had orphaned her. She said to the judge, “I want justice from this court.”

She was accompanied by her cousins, Gopinath Munde’s daughters.

The prosecution has completed examination of most of the witnesses and the trial is likely to be concluded within a month.

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