08-04-2005, 07:35 PM
Setalvad forced me to name innocents: Zaheera
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Deposing before the Nanavati-Shah inquiry commission, Zaheera, who appeared without her advocate Atul Mistry, accused Setalvad of forcing her to name several innocent persons in the Bakery case and even forcefully taking her to Mumbai from Vadodara.
Hesitant and requesting the Commission members to repeat their questions on several occasions, Zaheera stated she was not aware that an affidavit had been submitted before the commission on her behalf.
ââKept in confinment, I was asked to name innocent persons as accused in the case,ââ she said adding she remembered signing several legal documents and even the police complaint without reading them.
<b>ââThe signature is mine but I was coaxed and taken to the Vadodara Circuit House by three persons at the behest of Setalvad, who made me sign court documents,</b>ââ said Zaheera, who is currently living in Vadodara and has started a tailoring unit, while her brother is a scrap dealer.
In her affidavit before the Commission dated May 20, 2002, Zaheera had described the entire attack by violent crowd on the Bakery and had also named seven of the accused persons, who were part of the rioters who attacked their premises on March 1, 2002.
She told the Commission she had filed three affidavits before the Supreme Court and that in the first one, dated December 31, 2004, she had admitted filing an affidavit before the Commission.
<b>Answering to senior advocate Mukul Sinhaâs questions, Zaheera said there were three persons - Mohammed Vora, Munna Malik and Arif mallik - who were keeping an eye on her and her family and were following instructions of Setalvad. </b>She said she did not remember specific dates like the period when she had met them and they had taken her to Mumbai forcefully.
Zaheera denied filing any police complaint against them for forcibly taking her to Mumbai after the Fast Track court in Vadodara had acquitted them in the Bakery carnage case.
When asked regarding the identity of the seven accused persons, named in the affidavit as well as the police statement recorded under her name, Zaheera said her statement was recorded but she was unsure what was written by the police.
Zaheera was also questioned about her links with the Vadodara-based NGO âJan Adhikar Samitiâ. She said Tushar Vyas of the Samiti has been helping her financially to fight her case in the Supreme Court after she escaped from Mumbai.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Deposing before the Nanavati-Shah inquiry commission, Zaheera, who appeared without her advocate Atul Mistry, accused Setalvad of forcing her to name several innocent persons in the Bakery case and even forcefully taking her to Mumbai from Vadodara.
Hesitant and requesting the Commission members to repeat their questions on several occasions, Zaheera stated she was not aware that an affidavit had been submitted before the commission on her behalf.
ââKept in confinment, I was asked to name innocent persons as accused in the case,ââ she said adding she remembered signing several legal documents and even the police complaint without reading them.
<b>ââThe signature is mine but I was coaxed and taken to the Vadodara Circuit House by three persons at the behest of Setalvad, who made me sign court documents,</b>ââ said Zaheera, who is currently living in Vadodara and has started a tailoring unit, while her brother is a scrap dealer.
In her affidavit before the Commission dated May 20, 2002, Zaheera had described the entire attack by violent crowd on the Bakery and had also named seven of the accused persons, who were part of the rioters who attacked their premises on March 1, 2002.
She told the Commission she had filed three affidavits before the Supreme Court and that in the first one, dated December 31, 2004, she had admitted filing an affidavit before the Commission.
<b>Answering to senior advocate Mukul Sinhaâs questions, Zaheera said there were three persons - Mohammed Vora, Munna Malik and Arif mallik - who were keeping an eye on her and her family and were following instructions of Setalvad. </b>She said she did not remember specific dates like the period when she had met them and they had taken her to Mumbai forcefully.
Zaheera denied filing any police complaint against them for forcibly taking her to Mumbai after the Fast Track court in Vadodara had acquitted them in the Bakery carnage case.
When asked regarding the identity of the seven accused persons, named in the affidavit as well as the police statement recorded under her name, Zaheera said her statement was recorded but she was unsure what was written by the police.
Zaheera was also questioned about her links with the Vadodara-based NGO âJan Adhikar Samitiâ. She said Tushar Vyas of the Samiti has been helping her financially to fight her case in the Supreme Court after she escaped from Mumbai.
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