In her deposition before the court on Thursday, Qureshi said that Afreen died immediately after of the bullets hit her on her back.
Nafisa Qureshi was pregnant and waiting with her 6-year old daughter, Afreen, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) station for a train to Aurangabad on November 26 last year when two terrorists opened fire at passengers. She identified Mohammed Ajmal Kasab as one of the terrorists.
In her deposition before the court on Thursday, Qureshi said that Afreen died immediately after of the bullets hit her on her back.
“My child was writhing in pain and she died in my arms. I fainted soon after,” said Qureshi, her eyes welling up. A bullet hit Qureshi on her leg and she limps while walking even today. She also suffered a miscarriage after the incident.
Qureshi, her husband, Shahdad, and Afreen had booked tickets on the Devgiri Express train, which was to depart at 9:10 pm. “The train was late. When my husband found out, he went outside the station to get some food. I and my child were sitting on the floor at the main hall near platform 13,” said Nafisa.
When asked to identify the “terrorist”, she pointed to Ajmal and, choking back her tears, said: “He is the one. She was my only daughter. He was carrying a bag. She died in front of my eyes. That shorty!”
Ajmal didn’t meet her eye.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi, Shahdab, who was present in the court, stood up to speak, saying, “Just a minute sir…”
But additional sessions judge ML Tahaliyani asked him to sit down. Kazmi protested, saying, “The common man should not be instigated towards me. My appointment has been made to ensure a fair trial.” The judge assured him that such untoward incidents will not be tolerated in the court.
Another deposition was by Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer Jillu Yadav, who said he had tried to shoot at Ajmal by snatching a .303 rifle from a Government Railway Protection (GRP) constable. But the gun was “blocked” and could not fire.
Yadav said he was guarding the general manager’s gate when the shooting at CST started. He said he reached the spot and saw one of the terrorists loading a magazine. “I saw a GRP constable in the police booth with a rifle. I gestured to him to shoot at the terrorist but he didn’t react. I then ran towards the constable, took his rifle and fired at the terrorist. But the rifle was “blocked”, said Yadav.
He said both the terrorists had started firing at him and the GRP constable. Yadav identified Kasab as the man who started firing at him.
Three more eye-witnesses – home guard Dhananjay Gawli; Vinayak Kale, a porter; and a railway contractor employee, Shivram Kharat, also deposed on Thursday.
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