Witness alleges threats by accused out on parole

Vadodara: After over 18 years since the incident took place, a fresh controversy has been raked up involving a witness in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case. The witness has alleged that two accused in the case abused and threatened him.
The incident took place on June 19 when the accused in the case Mitesh Bhatt and Radheshyam alias Lalo Shah were present in the Singvad village of Dahod district as hey were out on a parole.
In an application submitted to the Godhra range inspector general of police on June 23, the witness Feroze alias Pintu Ghanchi has claimed that he and two others were harassed by the accused in the village. Copies of the application have been marked to the top brass of the Dahod police as well as others.
The application has named Bhatt, Radheshyam and Radheshyam’s brother Ashish Shah as the accused.
Feroze has claimed that a woman Sabera Ghanchi was called by Radheshyam in connection with an accident case Radheshyam had filed as an advocate regarding injuries to Sabera’s husband Ayub sometime before 2002. Ayub was murdered in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Feroze stated that on June 19 when Sabera’s daughter Arefa went to meet Radheshyam, he started recording her video on a mobile phone. She objected to this and called her mother Sabera. Radheshyam and Ashish started abusing the women and created a ruckus. Bhatt also joined them and pulled Arefa.
The applicant claimed that he was seeing this and intervened. He alleged that Bhatt attacked him and tore his shirt. He said that Radheshyam even feigned that he was beaten up. Feroze claimed that all this drama was recorded on CCTV cameras. He added that Sabera had also submitted a complaint regarding the incident. Feroze has claimed that police officials were trying to ensure that the parties involved in the matter reach a compromise.
Activist Mukhtar Sheikh, who has been involved with the case since 2002, said that this was not the first time that something like this had happened. “An application was moved regarding such harassment about a year back too, but an offence was not registered. The accused in the Bilkis Bano case are close to politicians and are being granted paroles frequently,” he said.
District superintendent of police Hitesh Joysar said that the matter had not reached him yet.
A group of members of the minority community including Bilkis and her family was attacked by a mob on March 3, 2002, at Randhikpur. Women were gang raped and 13 persons including children and an infant were killed and buried. Those killed included Bilkis’ three-year-old daughter Saleha.