Rasana Trial: Prosc witness turns hostile?
TNN Bureau. Updated: 7/11/2018 1:15:59 PM
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JAMMU: In another twist in the ongoing trial in Rasana minor rape-and-murder, the defence counsel today said that one of the prosecution witnesses had turned hostile as he was cross-examined by the prosecution counsel. The witness in question is the Chemist who, the Crime Branch had claimed, sold the sedatives to the accused before she was gang-raped and then murdered.
"Witness Chemist Rajneesh Khajuria of Bittu Medical Store at Kottah Morh has turned hostile," said Advocate Assem Sawhney outside the Pathankot district and Session court. "Though I am constrained to give you elaborate details, but why would prosecution cross-examine its own witness," he said.
Khajuria, it may be mentioned, was one of the main links the Crime Branch had mentioned in its Charge sheet filed against the eight accused in the case. "Deepak [Khajuria] along with his friend Vikram went to Bitu Medical shop at Kottah Morh on January 7 evening and purchased one strip of Epitril 0.5 mg containing 10 tablets by showing the prescription of his uncle, who has a psychiatric problem and is under treatment. Although the medicine as per the prescription was not available with Bitu, he gave him Epitril 0.05 mg instead of the medicine written on the prescription," the charge sheet had mentioned. The repeated attempts to confirm the same with Crime Branch turned futile.
Advocate Assem Sawhney also said that the Patwari of the Rasana area today submitted before court that keys to the temple in which the victim was claimed to be raped, were available with persons, other than Sanjhi Ram, the main conspirator of the heinous crime.