This broke today: an in-depth testimony tendered by Prabhakar Sail, bodyguard to Kiran Gosavi and listed by the NCB as witness number one in its case against Aaryan Khan:
At a remove from the claims and counter-claims (Sameer Wankhede of the NCB has already come up with a denial), what struck me about Sail’s testimony is the level of detail. It is not on the lines of “We were there late at night and a car came and a man got out of it…” — he gives exact timelines, plus or minus fifteen minutes; cars mentioned have specific makes and models and in one case a license number; Gosavi stayed in a specific place in Lonavla, etc.
This is key because so much of what he said can be cross-checked by the police; such checking helps to establish the veracity or otherwise of the testimony — and that in turn determines who should be in the dock for the travesty of justice that is the Aaryan Khan arrest. (And no, you don’t need Sail’s testimony to understand that it is a travesty — the NCB’s arguments in court, via the Additional Solicitor General, does not have an evidentiary leg to stand on.)
I’m interested in seeing where this goes. The Maharashtra police has legitimate grounds to investigate (demands that the cops take suo moto cognisance is already doing the rounds). For now, though, I’ll just leave this video here. And in the coming days, I’ll build on what, for convenience, I am tagging “srkfiles”.
NB: Kiran Gosavi, the prime mover in this sorry saga, is currently “absconding”, leading to the piquant situation of the NCB trying to make a case based on the testimony of a witness who is hiding from the law. My best guess? He will turn state’s evidence against Sameer Wankhede and the NCB — “honour among thieves” is one of those cliches that are not true.
A personal note in passing: Today was all about coordinating with my new landlord, with the moving company, with diverse others. Long story short, I’ll be shifting to a new residence within Bangalore during the period 28-30th of this month. Which means that early next week, my current wifi and other tools of the trade will be packed up, and I’ll be mostly mute.
In the past, my absences have extended indefinitely. This time, I’ll be off this blog between October 26th night and November 4th morning. But I will be back, so bear with me. 🙂
