New Delhi, July 02: Final arguments in the eight-year-old Tandoor murder case began in a city court today with the prosecution alleging that former youth congress leader and prime accused Sushil Sharma had all along tried to keep his marriage with the deceased Naina Sahni under wraps. "Sharma tried to keep his marriage with Sahni under wraps by staying with her at a Mandir Marg address instead of his Maurya Enclave residence or Sahni's house in West Patel Nagar here as he did not want the relation to be made public," prosecution counsel A P Ahluwalia told additional sessions Judge G P Thareja.

"It is to hide this relation that instead of taking her body to a normal cremation ground, he cut it into pieces, put it in a tandoor and burnt it," the counsel said adding he had never come across a similar case in his over 50 years career. Meanwhile, the court asked the prosecution to prove its point on the evidence given by key witness, Matloob Karim, who claimed to have had close friendship with Sahni, who was a Sikh.

"Show me why should I trust or believe Matloob Karim, particularly when he says he has rivalry with Sikhs?," Thareja told the prosecution counsel. "Simply because Karim says, should I believe it? I am answerable to the society and therefore I want evidence from you," the judge told Ahluwalia.

Karim had earlier identified Sahni's burnt body and alleged that she had a strained relationship with Sharma, who according to police had murdered her and then burnt the body in a tandoor at Baghiya restaurant in Ashok Yatri Nivas here on the intervening night of July 2/3, 1995. Bureau Report