This witness among prime accused: Defence counsel

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 20

Mohd Usman of Karachi was not a witness travelling by the Samjhauta train that fateful day, but the one who threw two suitcases containing bombs outside the train.

In a statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC on February 21, 2007, before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Panipat, HS Dahiya, he stated, “Around 11:45 pm, the train stopped with a jolt. One woman who had two children came, shouting at us to leave luggage and get down as the train had caught fire. Panic spread in our bogie.”

He heard that another bogie had caught fire. He claimed that he helped three persons get down from the train. “After that, I took a blanket and slept. After that, the train received another jolt. I peeped outside and saw fire tenders being used to extinguish fire. I was relieved that the fire had been extinguished,” he said in his statement.

He then went back to sleep. Between 4 am and 4:30 am, a railway employee shouted at him to get down as he was closing the bogies. As per Usman’s statement, he noticed a suitcase in the bogie. He thought that someone had forgotten it and he would take it with his luggage.

He pulled it, but as it was heavy, it fell and opened. There were bottles inside it, which he threw outside. He noticed an indicator blinking in the centre of the suitcase handle. He threw the suitcase outside. He had some water. He noticed a light blinking in the centre of another suitcase’s handle. He dragged, kicked and pushed it out of the train.

He told the magistrate that after some time, people came and brought his luggage down. He heard that IPS officer Bharti Arora had reached the spot. Arora had by then called for the bomb disposal squad. He told Arora the sequence of events.

The defence counsel submitted in court, “The perusal of his statement reveals that Usman’s conduct was highly suspicious and unnatural. The possibility that he was connected with the explosive-laden suitcases cannot be ruled out.” Usman never came to depose in court.