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Witness in Bharat Shah case turns hostile

The Mumbai police on Tuesday suffered a setback when Harish Sughand, a key witness in its case against film financier Bharat Shah, turned hostile.

Bharat Shah is facing trial in a special court in connection with his alleged links with the underworld.

Police had in late July submitted before the court, what according to them were, taped conversations between underworld don Chhota Shakeel and four film personalities -- actor Sanjay Dutt, director-actor Mahesh Manjrekar, producer Harish Sugandh and director Sanjay Gupta.

Shah's name appeared several times in the tapes, which were played in the court.

On Tuesday, when the tapes were played again before Harish Sughand, he could not recognise Shakeel's voice.

In a statement to the police earlier, Harish had admitted that he and three others had talked to Chhota Shakeel on November 14, 2000, from a hotel in Nashik.

Asked if he knew who Shakeel was, Sughand said he had read in newspapers that he was a notorious extortionist.

PTI

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