Mumbai: One more prosecution witness turned hostile in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case on Wednesday, taking the tally of hostile prosecution witnesses to 21. The prosecution has so far examined 252 witnesses in the case.
According to them, the 252nd witness had allegedly sold a pistol to Lt Col Prasad Purohit, but on Wednesday, when he was examined by the prosecution, he failed to identify Purohit and the pistol.
The witness, a 50-year-old businessman from Pune, admitted that Purohit had visited his shop when he used to sell arms and ammunition earlier, but did not remember anything further “due to passage of time.”
The witness had in his statement to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad claimed that between 2006 and 2008, he had met Purohit on several occasions. However, on Wednesday, while testifying before the court, he claimed that Purohit visited him only once.
The witness had claimed that Purohit first came to his shop in 2006 and asked for a pistol at a cheap rate, but he claimed that the weapon that Purohit was asking for was not available with him.
Subsequently, his statement added that Purohit had given him a silver colour pistol for servicing in November or December of 2006. The witness had also said in his statement that in March 2007, he had also sold 40 bullets to Purohit for his pistol. Again, in September 2008, Purohit had visited his shop to buy a rifle but the deal did not materialise as the witness alleged in his statement that Purohit did not show his arms licence.
However, on Wednesday, when he was asked to identify Purohit in the court, the witness told the court, “Due to lapse of long span and my illness, I cannot identify.”
Besides, the witness was also shown a pistol which was allegedly sold by Purohit to an accused discharged from the case. The pistol was allegedly given by Purohit to the witness for servicing. He, however, could not identify the same.