In the 14-year-old gang rape case of Bilkis Bano, the defence came prepared with a volley of attacks yesterday when the Bombay High Court held the first hearing of the appeal, filed by 11 accused, against a lower court's order sentencing them to life imprisonment.

Senior counsel Harshad Ponda, representing five of the 11 accused, told the court that the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) theory of the murder case was full of loopholes. "While the CBI said eight people were killed, bodies of only seven were found. The evidence it submitted mentions eight bodies, five females and two males, but the photographs are of four females and three males. Also, the locals, who they claimed clicked the pictures, say they never clicked any," said Ponda.