Friday, April 8 2005 10:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Police inspector H G Baria, the investigating officer in the Best Bakery case, yesterday (Apr 7, 2005) told a special court in Mumbai that Zaheera Sheikh was one of the three women who had approached DCP Piyush Patel and narrated to him incidents of the bakery being set on fire on March 1, 2002.

He said that the three women had survived the attack on Best Bakery and named Jayanti, Mahesh Chaiwalla, Jeetu and Lalo as those who had attacked them.

Barai said police received a call from municipal councillor Chandrakant Shrivastav at 09:35 hrs (IST) about the bakery being set ablaze and they reached the spot within an hour.

The officer said he saw several bodies and injured at the bakery.

Baria's statement assumes significance as Zaheera herself had told the special court conducting the re-trial that she did not know any of the accused who had attacked the bakery.

A special court in Mumbai is conducting the re-trial in the case following a Supreme Court directive to hold it in Maharashtra. Fourteen persons were killed in the attack on the Best Bakery at Vadodara on March 1, 2002.