Lawyer murder: Defence wants dead witness to depose in court

, Jan 16: In a bizarre development, the advocate appearing for the accused arrested for the murder of city lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha today moved an application in a court here seeking to recall the prime witness in the case, who died two months ago.

"We have filed an application to recall Avik Sengupta as we need some clarification regarding evidence submitted by the Investigating Officer in the case," said defence lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan.

Sengupta, also a lawyer and Purkayastha's fiancee, was the key witness in the case. The 28-year-old died on November 15 last year due to a brain disorder. Khan said the defence needs certain clarifications from Sengupta about a key piece of evidence submitted by the Investigating Officer. Khan said Sengupta's death has not been mentioned anywhere in the Court records and hence "we filed the application to recall him" (for deposition).

The application will come for hearing in due course of time. Purkayastha was allegedly murdered by a security guard, Sajjad Mughal, employed at her building in Wadala area on August 9, 2012.

Mughal (22), a native of Jammu and Kashmir, killed the 25-year-old, daughter of IAS officer Atanu Purkayastha, for 'resisting his advances', police have said. Mughal was later arrested.

PTI