Prof Sabharwal case: Another witness turns hostile

MP, (Ujjain) ,Feb 6: Another eyewitness turned hostile during today's hearing of the much-debated murder of the local Madhav College's Prof Harbhajan Singh Sabharwal.

It was the second consecutive day's hearing in the court of District and Sessions Judge A K Sharma. While Sarwan Patel turned hostile, another principal witness Govind Kushwaha -- the librarian -- did not.

The case took a new turn yesterday when key witness Komal Singh Parihar -- the college watchman -- said that he did not know who fatally assaulted the professor. Another college employee Manmohan Singh Dondia also failed to identify any of the accused named by the Crime Investigation Department.

Prime accused Shashiranjan Akela, who was then the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's Madhya Pradesh unit president, and Vimal Tomar, the then general secretary, were brought to court besides other accused Sudheer Yadav, Hemant Dubey, Vishal Rajauria and Pankaj Mishra.

The professor died in violence sparked off on August 26, 2006 by the postponement of a students' union poll.

Advocate Vikram Singh Sikarwar was the prosecutor and recording of statements will continue tomorrow.

UNI