The Hindu : `Police misinterpreted phone conversation'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 12, 2002

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National

`Police misinterpreted phone conversation'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 11. The investigation into the December 13 attack on Parliament was less than credible, the Special Court was again told today. The prosecution argued that a telephone conversation between one of the accused, the Delhi University lecturer, S.A.R. Geelani, and his younger brother, Shah Faisal, implicates Mr. Geelani in the attack. However, the police failed to take a statement from Mr. Faisal about the conversation despite interrogating him for over two days.

Mr. Faisal said on January 2, he was summoned from Baramulla to appear at the Lodhi Road police station here. He was questioned on January 3 and 4 by Inspector, Mohan Chand Sharma, of the Delhi Police's Special Cell. Mr. Faisal said that Mr. Sharma repeatedly wanted him to make a statement saying that he had called his brother on December 14 to ask him about the attack on Parliament.

Mr. Faisal said that the Inspector threatened to implicate him in the case if he did not cooperate. He was then taken to meet the ACP, Rajbir Singh. Mr. Faisal told the court that "Mr. Rajbir Singh spoke very abusively to me and told Mr. Sharma to keep me in jail and only then would I understand what statement I was to make.''

Earlier this week, the police's `translation' of the taped conversation in Kashmiri between Mr. Faisal and Mr. Geelani was shown by defence witnesses to have been incorrect. Today Mr. Faisal told the court that his conversation with his brother was personal and had nothing to do with the December 13 attack.

He said he had called his brother in New Delhi on December 13 to ask him to bring home copies of the syllabus and prospectus of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Delhi University medical colleges during the holidays.

He called again the next day and he learnt from his mother that Mr. Geelani was not coming to Baramulla for Id. His mother told him that Mr. Geelani's wife had called to inform her of their change of plans and had sounded annoyed. She told Mr. Faisal to ask his brother what had happened between him and his wife. Mr. Faisal said he had told the police exactly what he had told the court.

It was his questions to his brother "what has happened (yeh kya korua)", "what has happened in Delhi (Delhi kya korua)'', that the police translated as "what have you done'', "what have you done in Delhi'' and then interpreted them as a reference to his participation in the December 13 attack.

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