Police ask for ‘good’ lawyer in Goregaon diamond heist case

Hassled by poor conviction rates, the city crime branch has asked the state government to provide them with a good prosecutor. In the balance hangs the outcome of the diamond heist case in which five foreign nationals have been charged with decamping with diamonds worth Rs6.6 crore from an international exhibition in Goregaon on August 23.

The demand for a good prosecutor comes in the wake of major embarrassment faced by the police in several of the recent cases where the court had to acquit the accused due to lack of or inadequate evidence put up by the prosecution. The acquittal of gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar in the Sara-Sahara case, the acquittal of diamond merchant-film financier Bharat Shah who was charged with links with the underworld and the recent acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sahabuddin Ahmed in the 26/11 case are a few of the high profile cases where the prosecution drew a blank.

Confirming the move, additional commissioner of police (crime) Devan Bharti said, “This case has got international ramifications. We want the best of public prosecutors to represent the police.”
Police sources said that the crime branch has even suggested names of a few prosecutors like Rohini Salian, Raja Thakre etc, who could present the case for the prosecution when it comes on the board.