Statement of panch witness recorded

Mumbai: The trial court on Wednesday recorded the statement of a panch witness, before whom samples of mud from the river, where the body of Sohrabuddin's wife Kausar Bi was burnt, were collected. The body was allegedly burnt in 2005, but mud samples were collected two years later in 2007.

The witness, who owns a garage in Gujarat, told the court that his is situated around 7 km away from the incident site. According to him, in 2007, some persons in civil dress had come to him and had requested him to help them by becoming panch witness. He went with them along with one of his workers as two witnesses were required. During cross-examination, he said the men who took him were in civil cloths and didn't showed him their identity cards so he is not sure if they were policemen.