Mumbai Mirror: Mumbai: Tuesday,
June 11, 2013.
Another Right
to Information (RTI) query by July 11, 2006 train blasts accused Estesham
Siddiqui has exposed serious inconsistencies in the prosecution's case against
him.
Continuing
his examination-in-chief as a defense witness, the accused on Monday submitted
two documents retrieved through RTI revealing that his signature on a statement
expressing his willingness to confess could well have been forged.
The
prosecution had contended that the signatures of the accused showing his
willingness to confess were taken before his reported confession on October 6,
2008.
To support
the argument, documents were submitted in the special MCOCA court as evidence,
and a letter by DCP Gutta Karale endorsing that Siddique's signature featured
on the first page of the document.
But a copy of
the document availed by Siddiqui under RTI shows no trace of his signature on
any page of the document.
"This
clearly shows that the document was tampered with by the police," said
defense advocate Sharif Sheikh.
The state
Anti-Terrorism Squad, which arrested Siddique and 12 others for the July 11,
2006 serial train blasts, had called the accused Students Islamic Movement of
India (SIMI) members.
While the
Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) does not come under the purview of the RTI Act,
other police departments do. Ehtesham also submitted at letter by the ATS dated
April 18, 2013, asking the Commissioner of Police to order all the public
information officers to not disclose any information pertaining to cases where
the ATS is involved.
First of the
nine accused who have opted for examination-in-chief, Siddique has used a total
on 68 RTI applications to expose loopholes in the ATS's case.
Last month,
Siddiqui had used RTI to show how the cops had altered his narco analysis test
statement to suit themselves.
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