Vadodara, Oct 12: Nafitullah, brother of Zahira, a key witness in the Best Bakery case, is being searched for recording his statement after he alleged that BJP MLA Madhu Srivastav and four others had threatened the family of dire consequences, police said here today. Nafitullah, in his statement before the Supreme Court, had alleged that just 10 days before the trial was to commence in the fast track court, he was taken to Congress corporator Chandrakant Srivastav's premises by another witness Rehamtullah where BJP MLA asked him and his family to refrain from testifying in the court, or else face dire consequences.
On the basis of this statement, police registered an offence against Madhu Srivastav, Chandrakant Srivastav, Rehamtullah, Lal Mohamed and an unidentified person.
Police said that it was necessary to record the statement of Nafitullah for further investigations. Police were trying to locate him in Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where some of the employees of Best Bakery and family members of Zahira Shaikh have been staying.
The statement of the witnesses present when Nafitullah was `threatened' will also be recorded and a team may visit Mumbai, UP, Bihar and other places, police said.
After completing the formalities, police would record the statement of Srivastav, who returned yesterday from his trip to the US and UK and dismissed the charges as `baseless' and as an `attempt to tarnish his image'. After 21 persons were acquitted in the case, Zahira had demanded re-trial of the case outside Gujarat also alleging that Srivastav had threatened her. Bureau Report