Nonchalant demeanour of Pramod's brother, who was produced before a holiday court magistrate, was in sharp contrast to seriousness of charges against him.
MUMBAI: The nonchalant demeanour of Pravin Mahajan, who was produced before holiday court magistrate MN Bondre on Sunday, was in sharp contrast to the seriousness of the charges levelled against him. The court, however, remanded Pravin to police custody till April 29. Such was the confidence exhibited by Pravin through his words and actions in the courtroom, it would easily contradict his action of shooting his own brother and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan on Saturday.
Immediately after his lawyer Nandkumar Rajurkar told the court that the accused ought to be placed under judicial custody to facilitate his medical examination to assess his mental faculty, Pravin indicated a ‘thumbs up’ sign at his lawyer for a job well done. Rajurkar said, “The court must be assured that my star accused (Pravin) will not influence the star witness (his sister-in-law Rekha Mahajan) and hence the court must grant him judicial custody.” To this, Pravin congratulated his lawyer in front of the jam-packed court.
Clad in a white kurta-pyjama, Pravin was a man of confidence as he stood in court looking at the gathering present to watch the proceedings. When asked by the magistrate whether he was Pravin, he replied aloud ‘hoy’ (yes). The magistrate also asked him whether he was being ill-treated by the police. To this, he emphatically replied ‘nahee’ (no).
Earlier, public prosecutor EV Dhamal told the court, “It is necessary to place the accused in police custody as the police need to find out which people he met between 5.30am and 7.30am before he shot Pramod Mahajan on Saturday.” He added that the police also needed to investigate why the shooting suddenly took place. The fact that the accused carried a fully-loaded revolver indicated that the shooting was premeditated, he argued.
Later Rajurkar said that Pramod Mahajan was a god-like figure for his family and relatives. “Why would his brother attack him unless he was mentally disturbed? He needs medical treatment,” Rajurkar asserted.
Accepting the police custody given to his client, Rajurkar said, “During this time, if Pravin makes any statement, it must not be considered valid as he is currently mentally unsound.”
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