24 February,2011 09:09 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
The magistrate court issued orders yesterday allowing the police collect voice samples of Shiv Sena MLC Dr Neelam Gorhe and Milind Narvekar, personal assistant to Shiv Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray.
Gorhe and Narvekar were booked after the city police intercepted their calls on the night of December 27 last year, hours before the 'Pune Bandh' started the next day. The phone conversations showed that the duo allegedly planned the riots on the day of the bandh called by the Shiv Sena to protest the removal of Dadoji Konddeo's statue from the Lal Mahal premises.
Advocate Shrikant Shivade, who represents Narvekar and Gorhe, had on Monday opposed the prosecution's plea to conduct the tests saying that police can tamper with the evidence.
Judicial Magistrate (First Class) R L Wankhade on Wednesday allowed the Pune police to take voice sample test of Dr Gorhe and Narvekar. Taking the concerns of the defense into consideration, the judge directed the investigating officer Suhas Nadgauda of Bund Garden police station, to submit the original CD of the alleged conversation, before taking the voice samples.
The court also allowed Nadgouda to call Gorhe and Narvekar for the sample test at his discretion. "The voice test can be conducted in Pune also. The court has allowed us to call the suspects for test at our convenience," said Nadgouda.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Shilpa Mahatekar told the court that the voice sample test is to cross-check the variation of the voice. "During the test, the accused can sing a song also. They do not have to only repeat whatever they said in the conversation. There is no reason why the tape will be tampered," argued Mahatekar.
