No police record of missing pistol

new delhi: a police officer in charge of crime records on tuesday testified before the trial court that no report had been lodged with his department regarding the loss or theft of the pistol with which prime accused manu sharma allegedly shot model jessica lall. jessica was shot dead at tamarind court, a restaurant in qutub colonnade, allegedly by manu sharma on april 29, 1999, for refusing to serve him liquor.the weapon, a beretta bearing the number b-569434, was never recovered by the police after manu sharma fled the scene of crime. the prosecution case is that the weapon had either been destroyed or hidden to prevent the police from connecting the accused to the bullet pieces found on the spot. the ownership of the weapon has already been confirmed by the gunshop owner. according to the prosecution, had there been a theft or loss, the weapon owner would have reported it to the police. appearing as the 43rd prosecution witness, c n kumar, a deputy superintendent of police at the national crime bureau, r k puram, said he had fed the firearm number in the computer and found that there was no missing record. ''if and when any report is made about the loss of any firearm, intimation is given to the respective police station which, in turn, conveys the same to our bureau,'' kumar told additional district and sessions judge r l chugh. ''the police had asked for information regarding this particular pistol. i personally checked the computer printouts. there is no information recorded with us about the loss, theft and so on,'' kumar said. another witness, a vehicle licensing officer, testified that the mahindra ford car, which manu sharma allegedly used to flee from delhi, belonged to r h s chopra. under cross-examination, he admitted that the owner's name in the records was r h s chopra, not raja chopra, who is an accused in the case. according to the prosecution, manu had fled in this car but had to abandon it on the way as its engine seized after a gas station attendant filled it with diesel.