Lal Akhada verdict on October 8

VADODARA: The fast track court of Justice C K Solanki will pronounce its verdict in the Lal Akhada case on October 8. This is the second-most sensitive case after Best Bakery in Vadodara were former deputy mayor and Congress councillor, Nisar Bapu, his son, son-in law and others have been accused of stabbing to death one man on March 22 last year when communal violence was it its peak.
Nisar Bapu and his son Abed have been accused of helping alleged murderers to escape.
On Wednesday, the court heard the second phase of arguments between the public prosecutor and defence panel. The report submitted by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) suggests that samples of blood taken from the weapons allegedly used to commit the murder and those found on the clothes of accused were of the same blood group as that of Pankaj Chauhan, the prosecutor stated. City Police inspector A R Mudaliar had deposed before the court that he had noticed blood spots on the shirt of the accused, Mohammed Ishaq and Arif Sheikh, while he was bringing them to the City police station from Waghodia.
The public prosecutor also questioned Nisar Bapu''s conduct who had allegedly directed Mudaliar towards Champaner instead of Resham Wali Gali. To add on, Nisar was absconding for four months before he surrendered to the police on August 29, 2002, added the public prosecutor. However, the defence panel argued that the blood spots found from clothes of the accused could be of any other person who has the same blood group.
In the first phase of arguments the prosecutor had said that constable Illahi Khan, who was the first person to witness the crime, had filed a complaint almost immediately after the incident took place. The complaint stated that the vehicle with registration number GJ 7 A 4167 was driven by Nisar Bapu. It also stated that the vehicle had stopped at a spot near Resham wali Gali and two other persons ran into the vehicle from the spot of crime. The defence panel had vehemently opposed the prosecutors argument before the court.