Farid Tanasha murder case: Defence questions to slain Mumbai gangster’s eye-witness wife

The 37-year-old is the 53rd witness in the case and had last week identified the two alleged shooters who had entered their home and shot Tanasha.

About seven years after gangster Farid Tanasha was shot dead in front of his wife in Chembur, the defence in the murder trial on Wednesday questioned his widow extensively about the incident.

A TV grab shows Chhota Rajan aides Sunil Poddar (in red shirt) and Farid Tanasha (behind Poddar) at a party in a Chembur club. (File photo)

The 37-year-old is the 53rd witness in the case and had last week identified the two alleged shooters who had entered their home and shot Tanasha. On June 2, 2010, unidentified men had entered the gangster’s bedroom and shot him dead in his wife’s presence. Tanasha was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead.

In her deposition before the court on February 17, Reshma had said that on the day of the incident, she and her daughter were sitting with Tanasha in their bedroom. Suddenly two men entered the room and opened fire at Tanasha, Reshma told the court.

The defence lawyer Sudeep Pasbola who appeared for the assailants cross examined Reshma for more than three hours on various aspects of the incident. She was asked to explain details of the room they were in and the door from which the assailants entered the room. The defence also asked her about the first person she contacted after the incident.

Pasbola also asked Reshma to explain the security arrangements that Tanasha had made outside their house and how the assailants had managed to enter the room despite it. Reshma replied that usually the door is kept shut with Tanasha’s aides guarding it all the time. On the day of the incident, however, she had asked her domestic help to shut the door but he did not and the assailants barged in through it.