Akhtar, who shares his cell with Siddhiqui, was produced before the court in the afternoon. According to Akhtar, Siddhiqui has made a lot of efforts to study further from prison.
The court on Tuesday allowed the defence advocates in the 2006 serial train blast case to examine a few witnesses on the conduct of the convicts. The defence then examined four witnesses, who deposed on the good character of the convicts. One of the witnesses was Nadeem Akhtar, an accused in the July 2011 triple blasts. Akhtar vouched for the good conduct of 11/7 convict Ehtesham Siddhiqui.
Akhtar, who shares his cell with Siddhiqui, was produced before the court in the afternoon. According to Akhtar, Siddhiqui has made a lot of efforts to study further from prison. "He has helped many of the inmates in case of emergency. We have faced a lot of hardship behind the bars but despite that, he has always maintained his cool and has never been rude to anyone in jail. We all are kept in the Anda cell and are never allowed to meet any one. However, even in such inhuman situations, his conduct has always been consistent and nice.
The defence also examined convict Asif Bashir Khan's younger brother, who claimed that Khan was known in Sangli for his helpful nature. Khan used to live in Sangli before moving to Mumbai in 2001. "My brother was a law-abiding person and was very much helpful by nature," said the witness. However, when the prosecution questioned him whether another case was registered against Khan, he replied in the affirmative and said that, in fact, there were two more cases registered against his brother in Sangli, apart from the 11/7 blasts case. In one of those cases, Khan was booked for inciting communal violence, he said.
Ishtiar, the elder brother of convict Dr Tanvir Ansari, also deposed about his brother's charitable nature. He also said how Dr Ansari wanted to do something for society. "He had offers from many big hospitals but he rejected them to work at a charitable hospital to help the poor," Ishtiar said. It was revealed in the cross-examination that even Dr Ansari was booked for being a member of SIMI.
Wife of convict Majeed Safi, Farzana too deposed before the court. She claimed that her husband was the only breadwinner for her family, and in his absence, things have gone bad to worse.
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