Witness saw burning bus being pushed

MUMBAI, March 24: Supporting the tanker theory of the Mumbai police, a retired Indian Navy captain and a witness in the Ramabai Nagar incident today told the Gundewar Commission that he saw some people pushing a burning bus towards one of the two tankers parked on the Eastern Express Highway. The officer said that before the burning bus could be pushed near the tankers, he heard firing sounds.

During cross-examination by counsel for commission Vijay Pradhan, the witness Captain Kailash Nath Kapoor, a resident of the nearby Garodia Nagar, said that on July 11, 1997 he left his house at 7 am for a morning walk and came on the road in front of Shanti Park which runs parallel to the highway.

He said that by the time he reached the end of the park he saw nearly 3,000 people trying to stop the traffic by pelting stones and petrol bombs on passing vehicles. He said that the wind shields and side panes of many vehicles were damaged. Kapoor (65) said that there was not even a single police officer nor a constablepresent at the spot when the bus was being pushed towards the tanker and added that at that time he did not see the rear portion of the bus catch fire.

He said that he heard the firing sounds for five to seven minutes but neither did he see any van of the State Reserve Police nor did he see any persons fall to the ground during the firing.