German Bakery case: Pune court allows defence application

Defence lawyer A Rehman on Saturday filed an application before the special judge NP Dhote hearing the German Bakery bomb blast case to allow him to cross-examine 11 prosecution witnesses on Saturday.

The 11 witnesses include owner of German Bakery, Smita Kharose; cashier Shrikrishna Thapa; manager Ram Gopal Karki; domestic help Kedar Gibhire; three autorickshaw drivers; a salesman; and two residents living near the German Bakery.

At the last hearing of the case on October 1, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had submitted affidavits of 41 formal witnesses. The defence was asked to submit their say on these affidavits. It was mentioned that those were the witnesses affected by the blast, but had not seen any of the suspects. Himayat Inayat Mirza Baig (29) of Beed is the only arrested suspect in the case and six others are absconding.

The defence lawyers submitted their say, stating, “The defence lawyers desire to cross-examine 11 witnesses and the prosecution please be directed to make them available for cross-examination.”

Special public prosecutor, Raja Thakre said they were ready to produce the witnesses at any time as per the requirement of the defence.

Judge Dhote directed the defence lawyers to file their say on admitting the medical certificates of the injured witnesses. He allowed them to conduct the cross-examination of the 11 witnesses at the next hearing on November 8.