Monday, May 6, 2013

Anti- Terrorist Squad ex-chief wanted me killed: 7/11 blasts accused - By Swati Deshpande - TNN - The Times of India, Mumbai, India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ATS-ex-chief-wanted-me-killed-7/11-blasts-accused/articleshow/19903276.cms.

The Times of India



ATS ex-chief wanted me killed: 7/11 blasts accused

, TNN | May 6, 2013, 12.53 AM IST

MUMBAI: An accused in the July 11, 2006, Mumbai train blasts case informed the special court that former anti-terrorism squad (ATS) chief K P Raghuvanshi threatened to have him killed in an encounter if he did not admit to involvement in the crime that took the lives of about 200 people.

"Raghuvanshi told me that if I do not admit to the crime, he would have me killed in an encounter as they had killed one person,'' Ehtesham Siddiqui (31) said on Friday in a detailed deposition before special Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) judge Y D Shinde.

Raghuvanshi, however, told TOI that the accused "have been saying many things''. He said he was not fazed by the allegations and added, "We have submitted evidence in court and the court will decide the case based on the evidence.''

Siddiqui, accused of preparing pressure cooker bombs in Govandi, said not only was he never there, but that when he denied knowledge of the blasts, he was tortured at Raghuvanshi's behest. He told the court that after his return from Bangalore to Mumbai, where his underwent a narco-analysis test in which he denied planting any bomb, he was being taken to the Bhoiwada lock-up, when cops escorting him got a call and he was taken to Raghuvanshi's office in Nagpada on September 13, 2006. "He called police inspector Khandekar and then inspector Tajne to his cabin. He told them to get a big rope and tie me, and then to take me to the jungles in Borivli national park, and when I start to run, to shoot me,'' he said.

Siddiqui said Raghuvanshi, the ATS chief then in his first stint, told the cops to give him "special treatment".

Detailing his torture, he said, "I was taken to the detection room at Kalachowkie, where there were handcuffs in four corners. I was handcuffed to one. Sound absorbers were in all corners,'' said Siddiqui, who has been in jail since his arrest in August 2006.

"...Additional commissioner of police Jaijeet Singh, assistant inspector Khanwilkar and other cops came into the room at midnight with a rope and belt. They tied my hands behind my back and made me sit on the floor with legs stretched in front. A constable sat in the chair behind, with a leg entangled in my hands, which were tied. Ropes were tied to my legs with the other ends held by two cops on either side. Two constables started stretching my legs outwards. The additional CP sat on a chair opposite me. He was continuously asking me only one question: Who was behind the blasts? Each time I said I did not know anything, my legs were stretched apart all the way to 180 degrees... the next day I bled when I passed urine. The officer said I would be okay and refused medical help.''

He said, "Raghuvanshi told me to sign some documents and then they would not do anything to me. I refused to sign anything false.'' He said he was then taken to another room. "There was a handcart there. I was tied and the top part of my body lowered. A cloth was put on my face and they started pouring water on my nose and mouth. I had difficultly breathing...''

He said the third degree torture stopped only when deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Naval Bajaj and an officer of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) came. "Bajaj scolded the officers and asked if they wanted to kill me,'' but the next day, he said, the police gave him electric shocks, including on his private parts, after removing all his clothes. They later let drops of water dribble on his head for two hours, resulting in pain, he said.

A few days later, when produced in the Mazgaon court, his face was not unveiled and the magistrate did not ask him anything. He said he did not say anything out of fear.

Siddiqui also said video-recordings of his narco test were edited to remove denials and add morphed admissions. He said on September 29, 2006, the then police chief also told him to admit he was behind the blasts as they planned a press conference.

On October 5, 2006, he was taken to a DCP in Matunga, who asked him his name and address. He then told two officers to torture him that night, and made him sign two pages the next day after officers threatened to involve his father and brother. He said he relented and signed the papers and later two typewritten pages, which a DCP told him was his confession.

His deposition will continue on Monday