Mumbai: 20 years on, four witnesses traced in custodial death case

The Bombay High Court was told on Friday that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by it had managed to trace four witnesses in a 1996 custodial death case of an undertrial in Thane Jail.

Robert Almeida, who assaulted his father in a drunken state on August 28, 1996, was arrested by the Vikhroli police. He was sent to the Thane Central Prison were he was allegedly assaulted by cops and died in the Thane Central Hospital the same night.

Initially, 11 undertrials had deposed in court as witnesses in the case, claiming that Almeida was assaulted, but later all of them were granted bail and since then were untraceable. The post mortem report claimed that Almeida died of brain haemorrhage but a police inquiry claimed that he injured himself in a drunken state.

The HC directed a judicial probe in 2011 but it turned out to be inconclusive, as the 11 witnesses did not depose before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

Justices Abhay Oka and Amjad Sayed have been following the matter. On Friday, Mankuwar Deshmukh, the state pleader, told the bench that Dilip Mhaskar and Indranil Nitin Roy were found by the SIT, which is headed by Addl CP, Crime Branch, K M M Prasanna.

Produce before CJM
The SIT also told the court, two other witnesses, Guru Pillay and John Dolphin, had died. Justice Oka then asked the cops to produce the two who are alive, before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, who should carry out an inquiry into the matter by October 24.

The Court also directed the SIT to trace two more witnesses whose addresses are known, and find the addresses of the other five. 'All of them should be produced before the CJM," said Oka.

Madhav Jamdar who was appointed amicus curiae told the bench that all the documents related to the case should also be submitted to the CJM.