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AKSHARDHAM ECHOES / NAINA SAHNI MURDER
Akshardham echoes: A year later
By: Pankaj Sharma
Telecast: Saturday 20.09.03 at 7:30pm
Repeat: Wednesday 24.09.03 at 11:30 am
A year after the ghastly terror attack on Akshardam temple in Gujarat, memories of the incident continues to send chills down our spines. As for the victims themselves and those who lost their loved ones the memories are still fresh and any kind of recollection brings with it great trauma.
It was a normal day at the holy shrine on Sept 24 2002, when two terrorists armed with AK-56 rifles, 26 grenades and 300 rounds of ammunition entered the temple and started indiscriminate firing. The gruesome siege of the temple claimed 37 lives and left 81 persons injured. The temple could be liberated only after a 15 hour operation by the security forces.
The height of the temple wall has now been increased to 20 feet and barbed wires keep prowlers away. Barricades have come up around the corner gates. Vigilance has been stepped up at the entry points and people are allowed in only systematically.
When Zee Follow Up team met up with those who witnessed the entire episode, the fear in their eyes was palpable.
30 years old Jitendra R Shah, who is a guide at the Akshardham Temple, remembers those 10 horrific minutes when the terrorists held him at gunpoint and asked him to show the way around. When he first heard a shot, he felt a brawl had broken out. When he turned around, he was shot in the foot and confronted by terrorists. Shah recollects the horror of those few minutes when he felt his life had reached its end.
Terror was not limited to the vicinity of the temple. Houses located very close to the temple were immediately evacuated. Dr Gajendra Singh Achawada recounts hearing rapid bullet shots, followed by the police rushing in and asking them to leave their houses. Those were moments of dread that he can never ever forget.
Sumita Sukhida, whose husband and daughter were killed in the episode, says her entire life has been devastated. She feels common man’s life holds no value, as innocents are increasingly becoming targets and authorities remain unruffled.
“It’s the police force that can’t protect lives of devotees. Being informed of terrorist threats in advance, the police should have made adequate security arrangements and increased vigil,” she says.
The Gujarat Police, however, has a very different view. SP, Gandhinagar, R.B. Brahmbhatt says, “ It is not only civilians who have lost their lives. Brave soldiers of the police force too were martyred. I myself battled the terrorists alone till reinforcements arrived.”
Though a year has passed, lessons remain to be learned. Conflicting versions of the heinous conspiracy continue to make headlines. There have been claims of cracking the case and booking culprits, but truth may just be the casualty.
Naina Sahni murder case
The saga of the Naina Sahni murder case began eight year back when the burnt remains of Naina Sahni were found in a tandoor in her husband Sushil Sharma`s Baghiya restaurant at Ashok Yatri Niwas.
According to the police, the accused was trying to burn the dead body in the tandoor but at that very moment, a police constable who was patrolling the area happened to witness the act and informed the police station.
On hearing the news, the police swung into action and reached the scene of the crime. There they discovered the burnt remains of the victim, who was later identified as Naina Sahni.
According to sources the case had its roots in a love triangle with a happy beginning but a gruesome end. It all started with Naina Sahni and Matloob Karim, both classmates and NSUI leaders, falling in love. Opposition from their respective families however, eliminated all hope of marriage. Later Nania came in contact with Sushil Sharma, another college mate and Delhi Youth Congress leader. Their acquaintance gradually blossomed into a love affair culminating in marriage.
According to the police charge-sheet, on July 2 ,1995 when Sushil reached his flat (No8/2-A,D.I.Z Area ,Mandir Marg) he was greeted by the sight of Naina consuming liquor while in conversation on the telephone. When he entered, she quickly put down the receiver. Sushil grew suspicious and redailled the number. His suspicions were confirmed when Karim responded at the other end.
Overcome with jealous rage, Sharma drew out his licensed revolver and shot his wife. A total of three shots were fired. The first hit Naina in the head, the second in the neck and the third missed its target, hitting the airconditioner instead. Naina Sahni dropped dead at the spot.
Following the murder, Sharma bundled the body of his wife into his car and drove to his restaurant where he hid the body in the tandoor. He spent the night with his friend, an IAS officer, DK Rao at Gujarat Bhawan.
The very next day, Sharma left for Jaipur, from where he first went to Bombay and later, Madras to obtain anticipatory bail.
Meanwhile the police learnt of his whereabouts and Maxwell Pereria, Addl Police Commissioner, along with his team, flew to Madras. However Sushil managed to evade them by fleeing to Bangalore. Finally on July 10, he surrendered, after which he was arrested and brought back to Delhi.
The police recovered his revolver, as well as his blood-stained clothes and sent them to the Lodhi Road forensic lab for tests. DNA samples were also taken from Naina’s parents, Harbhajan Singh and Jaswant Kaur and sent to Hyderabad for tests.
According to the results of the forensic report in the chargesheet, blood samples preserved by the doctor during post mortem and the blood stains on the two lead bullets recovered from the skull and neck of the deceased, are of the “B” blood group.
The findings of the DNA test were also incorporated in the chargesheet, which stated “the tests prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the charred body is that of Naina Sahni, the biological offspring of Harbhajan Singh and Jaswant Kaur.
Once the chargesheet had been filed, the trail for the murder of Naina Sahni began in Patiala House. What initially looked like a relatively clear-cut case proved to be a long drawn process that stretched over the years to follow. Loop-holes in law and other complexities in the case have led to a delay of over eight years after the crime. The entire nation still awaits the outcome of the trail for a crime that sent shockwaves across the country. No matter how henious the crime, or how straightforward the case, justice, it would seem just doesn’t come easy. If there is to be any justice at all.