7/11 blast case: Sadiq declared hostile witness

The defence advocates on Friday declared co-founder of Indian Mujahideen (IM) Sadiq Sheikh a hostile witness after he retracted his confession statement given before a magistrate in 2008 in relation to the 7/11 blasts case.

The defence advocates on Friday declared co-founder of Indian Mujahideen (IM) Sadiq Sheikh a hostile witness after he retracted his confession statement given before a magistrate in 2008 in relation to the 7/11 blasts case.

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Sheikh had been called as a defence witness by the accused of 7/11 serial train blasts before special MCOCA judge Yatin Shinde.

On Friday, Sheikh maintained that before he was to taken to the magistrate to give his confession, Mumbai crime branch officers had threatened him. “Before entering the chamber, the officers threatened me to sign the confession. I was never told what was written and only agreed to the content as I was under threat,” Sheikh said. Following this deposition, defence advocate Wahab Khan declared Sheikh as hostile and started to cross examine him.

Sadiq was called as a defence witness with regard to the confessional statement stating the IM was responsible for carrying out blasts in the country between 2005 and 2008, including the 2006 train blasts.

Sheikh’s cross examination will continue on Saturday.