New Delhi,Cops in soup as proof against Dawood's man erased

The Delhi Police is in serious trouble over destruction of evidence against one of the closest aides of India's most wanted man,Dawood Ibrahim.
Damning proof against the D-company frontman,Khalil Ahmed, has been practically wiped out. Khalil was arrested in 2008 in an extortion case.
This, after the police intercepted conversations by Khalil with gangsters, Akbar Khan and Amit Vaish.The intercepts were recorded in a CD and sent to the forensic lab.

This CD was important as it was the sole evidence in the case.And it was stored by the special cell at its maalkhana (record room).
When the trial began on May 10 and the judge asked the special cell to produce the CD as evidence, the CD was found broken.

And shockingly, it was the smashed pieces that was produced in court as proof. Infuriated over the lapse,Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav ordered a thorough probe into the mystery breakage of the CD.

The court also asked deputy commissioner of police (special cell) to file a report into the lapse. DCP told the court that "there was no malafide intent on the part of special cell personnel".

Not satisfied with the explanation, the judge ordered the DCP, special cell to lodge an FIR into the matter.

The court lashed out at the Special Cell officers for their irresponsible behaviour and said, "the maalkhana munshi, the investigating officer and the SHO of special cell should have been careful while taking custody of the CD, when it is the most vital piece of evidence.

"The matter requires a thorough investigation. Under what circumstances was this crucial evidence destroyed? DCP (Special Cell) is directed to investigate into the matter through a responsible police officer, not below the rank of Inspector," court said.

In compliance with the court order, the special cell has now lodged a case against unknown persons. The FIR was lodged on May 28 and the Special Cell has to give a status update on the conspiracy angle in the case on June 6.

The CD gains importance as all witnesses in this case had turned hostile. Also, the voice intercepted on the CD matched with that of Khalil, making it a conclusive evidence. And in another twist to the case, the Special Cell does not have any record of the call intercepts. The court has now asked the Special cell to contact the CFSL to retrieve the contents of broken CD.

A team of the southern range of the Special Cell had arrested Khalil Ahmed when he was making extortion calls to a businessman, said a police officer.

The intercepted calls were recorded as evidence in a CD and voice samples sent to CFSL in another CD. After filing the chargesheet, the case is on trial.

The CD, sources said was intact till April 4, when it was taken to the court. After that, it was again kept in the record room of the special cell.