Mumbai, Dec 21: Zaheera Sheikh, prime witness in the Best Bakery case, was today declared hostile by the prosecution after she resiled her police statement during the retrial in a special court here.
Zaheera is the seventh witness to turn hostile. Others who did not support the prosecution include Zaheera's mother Sehrunissa, sister, Saira, brothers, Nafitullah and Nasibullah and two independent witnesses.
During examination by prosecutor Manjula Rao, Zaheera told the designated judge Abhay Thipsay that her maternal uncle, Quaser, was not present in the Best Bakery when it was set on fire by a group of persons on March 1, 2002.
In her police statement, Zaheera had said that Quaser was present at the bakery at the time of the incident. In police records, however, he is shown as missing.
Bureau Report
