Kolkata, Nov 17: A car used in the January 22, 2002 terrorist attack on the American Center was stolen from Delhi two years prior to it and repainted. Manoharlal, an employee of the Delhi Municipal Corporation deposing as a witness before the special court of P L Dutta in presidency jail said that his white coloured Maruti 800 was stolen from before his residence in Delhi on July six, 2000 after he had parked it for the night as was his custom.
Next morning when he found his car missing he registered an fir with the local police station, but it could not be traced.
In February 2002 when the Kolkata police interrogated him at his Delhi residence, Manoharlal said he showed them the car's papers, including the engine number and chassis numbers.
The Maruti 800 used in the attack was the same car, though it had been repainted blue, as the engine number and chassis numbers tallied, the prosecution said.
Manoharlal identified the papers of the car in court.
The car, seized on January 30, 2002 from Tiljela on the eastern outskirts of the metropolis, was in the possession of Jamaluddin Nasser, one of the co-accused of gangster and the alleged brain behind the attack on the American Center, Aftab Ansari, currently lodged in the Presidency Jail.
The car as well as a motorcycle were used in the early morning attack which left five policemen dead.
Ansari, Nasser and seven other co accused were present in court.
Bureau Report