1993 bakery firing: Retired policeman testifies

Mumbai: A retired policeman —who was a wireless operator at the main police control room during the 1992-93 Mumbai riots — on Tuesday testified before a sessions court that he had noted down the messages received from various police teams on January 9, 1993.

He told the court that he had received messages from the police from different locations in the city, stating that people were firing at the police, and Suleman Usman Bakery at Mohammed Ali Road was one such place.

Meanwhile, two witnesses could not be examined as the tape recorder was not available in the courtroom. Public prosecutor Ratnavali Patil had informed trial Judge Uday M. Padvad that during testimony of these witnesses, the cassettes containing the recorded messages were to be played. The Judge asked the prosecution to examine these witnesses only after the tape recorder was arranged and in the meantime, examine other witnesses.

Advocate Patil examined retired assistant sub-inspector Dilip Vamanrao Nikale as the witness who was a constable on January 9, 1993 when the incident of firing at the Suleman Usman Bakery took place. The witness was called to confirm the incident of firing.

Nikale told the court that almost 26 years ago on the date of incident, he was posted as a wireless operator in the main control room at police headquarters in Crawford market in Mumbai. His duty was to note down oral messages conveyed through wireless by various police parties posted at different places in the city.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer Shrikant Shivde, he said that at around 12 pm, there was a message from Mohammed Ali Road saying that the public was firing at the police at Suleman Usman Bakery. Then, there was a message at 12.35 pm saying that the public was firing at the police at Umar Khadi area in Dongri. A similar firing message came at 12.39pm from Kamathipura and at 12.52 again from Suleman Usman Bakery.