Sheena Bora murder case: Indrani's ex-driver Rai will not escape trial

The first clue that led to the cracking of the Sheena Bora murder case mdash the arrest of prime accused Indrani Mukerjearsquos driver for illegal possession of Arms mdash seems to have been forgotten by the Mumbai police On August 21 Shyamwar Pintu Rai 43 a resident of Vakola was arrested under the Indian Arms Act 1959 for possessing a pistol and three live cartridges Yet say city lawyers this is one aspect of the case that the police have revealed little about The questions that still remain unanswered are mdash from where did Rai get the pistol and cartridges and why Who was the targetAlso read Sheena Bora murder case Wheres the medical evidence asks Indranis lawyerOn Saturday 12 days after his arrest Shyamvar Rai engaged a lawyer No one represented him at earlier hearings PicPradeep DhivarAnd now that itrsquos being said that Rai will turn an approver in the case what happens to the case registered against him under the Arms Act which is a cognizable offence and carries a punishment Speaking to SUNDAY midday Advocate SR Mithare Khannarsquos lawyer said ldquoIt is surprising that the police in its remand application stated that acting on a tipoff they picked up Rai from Carter Road Then they recovered a pistol and three live cartridges from him and accordingly registered a case on August 21 under Section 3 and 25 of the Indian Arms Act vide crime register CR no 342015 It was during the questioning in this case that Rai confessed to the Sheena murder and subsequently the other accused were arrested vide CR No 4062015 for murder kidnapping and destroying evidencerdquoPointing that the registration numbers between the two cases see a jump from 34 to 406 at the same police station Khar Mithare added ldquoThe crime register saw a huge difference in registering two different offences in a span of four days within the same police station Also the police have later added Section 307 attempt to murder and 328 causing hurt by giving poison in which my client has no role to play When acting on Mikhail Borarsquos complaint against his mother the police should have registered a separate FIRrdquo When asked why Mithare did not bring this up in court on Saturday he said ldquoThe case is still at remand stage and that the same will be brought up before the appropriate court Sessions Court during trialrdquoWhen this paper asked a senior police officer about the possibility of a discrepancy in the crime register numbers he clarified ldquoAll offences which are registered under the Indian Penal Code are recorded in the Crime Register Cases that are not covered under IPC are reported in the Local Act Cases Seizing of fire arms Gambling action against hawkers violation of MV Act Essential Commodity Act etc Special Local Act Cases PETA cases Atrocity cases etcrdquo Meanwhile a forensic expert said ldquoHad the police found any fire arms as they claim they should have submitted the same to the State Forensics Science Laboratory for conducting detailed ballistics examination mdash to ascertain if it was fired ever or used in any previous gun shot casesrdquo An official from FSL Kalina said ldquoWe havenrsquot received any weapon for ballistic testing in this case yet from Khar policerdquoA senior lawyer who is monitoring the developments in case requesting anonymity said ldquoIt is important to know from where and how Rai procured the firearms and the live cartridges Was he acting as a courier to deliver the same to any organized crime member These are serious questions which the police should get answers forThis also means that even if Rai is turned an approver in the case mdash as he allegedly did not have any role in the murder mdash he still cannot escape punishment as he will face trial under the Arms Act for which a separate FIR is already registeredAdvocate Rohini Salian senior public prosecutor for the state of Maharashtra said ldquoUnder the Indian Arms Act the accused Rai if proved guilty will still have to undergo minimum imprisonment of one year and maximum of three yearsrdquoSenior Police Inspector of Khar Police Station Dattatray Pandurang Bhargude said ldquoI am in a meeting and cannot speakrdquo