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More anomalies crop up in Rane shooting case

September 25, 2010 02:48 IST

The high profile case of Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane's younger son Nitesh had just had another twist. A day after Chintu Sheikh, a member of the Swabhiman Sanghatna, an NGO run by Nitesh had alleged that he was assaulted and shot at by Nitesh at his Khar office, several anomalies have cropped up in the case.

The Khar police team which visited the alleged crime scene was not able to locate the bullet or the cartridge, said senior inspector Mangesh Pote. Though the FIR was registered at the Powai police station, the case was transferred to the Khar police station as the alleged incident happened in its jurisdiction. However the incident happened on Wednesday afternoon and the police team from Khar visited junior Rane's office of Thursday. Evidences are often lost unintentionally or intentionally when there is delay in the investigating agencies arriving at the crime scene. Moreover Nitish Rane does not own a firearm, making it difficult for the investigating agency to pin the charge on him.

The biggest alibi, Nitish Rane has are his special protection officers that have been deputed by the state. His two security officers have denied seeing Sheikh come to the office on Wednesday, when the shooting is supposed to have taken place.

Sheikh's case is further weakened by the fact that after conducting extensive tests, the doctors at the Hiranandani Hospital in Powai have ruled out a bullet injury.

 

N Ganesh in Mumbai