Almost 24 years after three men shot dead music baron Gulshan Kumar (on left in photograph) in Bombay, the Bombay high court yesterday (1st July) upheld the 2002 conviction of one assailant, Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant (right in picture), declared guilty a second gunman, Rauf’s brother, Abdul Rashid, and upheld the acquittal of Ramesh Taurani. The high court confirmed Rauf’s life term. Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant was arrested from Calcutta in January 2001 and has been in jail since then. Rashid, who was earlier acquitted, got similar punishment of life sentence.
T-Series boss Gulshan Kumar had reached his car after offering prayers at a temple at Andheri (West) in Bombay on August 12, 1997, when a person charged towards him and placed a pistol on his back, pumping bullets into him. The music baron got bullets in his chest when he turned around. Two other shooters then emerged from behind a stall and an autorickshaw and opened fire. An eyewitness identified the brothers. The witness, however, said that the first shooter, who fled the scene, was not in court during trial. He is an absconding accused.
The high court also ruled that the killers were hired by music director Nadeem (of Nadeem-Shravan) and gangster Abu Salem as they wanted to seek revenge with Gulshan Kumar. The court noted that Nadeem Saifee and Abu Salem as well as one Kayyum alias Chacha have been shown as absconding accused. Hence, the trial could not proceed against them. Kishan Kumar, younger brother of Gulshan Kumar, in his witness, had said that on 5th August, 1997, he had seen his brother (Gulshan Kumar) in a frightened condition and upon inquiry, Gulshan Kumar had disclosed that he had received threatening call from Salem. Kishan also added that Nadeem had confronted the deceased and blamed him for the failure of his album sales. It may be recalled that Nadeem, who was a suspect in the murder case, was in London on August 30, 1997. All efforts by the Indian government to have him extradited failed.
Ramesh Taurani (of rival music company Tips) was acquitted as there was no cogent and convincing evidence to hold that he had spoken to gangster Abu Salem in Dubai. The only witness who deposed against Taurani was “also present” when Taurani allegedly called Abu Salem from Juhu (in Bombay). The high court reasoned, there was no probe to verify if the phone was Salem’s. A plea to make the witness an accused was rejected by the trial court. The high court held, “In view of this, the acquittal of the respondent no. 1 (Ramesh Taurani) calls for no interference.”
The high court bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and N.R. Borkar described the killing of Gulshan Kumar as a cold-blooded murder. The court said, it was a case of business rivalry.
In total, there were 19 accused. Charges against two were dropped pending trial. Five years later, the Bombay sessions court held only Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant guilty, and acquitted the remaining 16, including Ramesh Taurani and Abdul Rashid. Abdul Rauf was also convicted for attempt to murder for firing at Gulshan Kumar’s driver the same day.
The high court said, the prosecution proved that Rauf murdered Gulshan Kumar and fired at his driver. It said, there was evidence to show that Rauf “was in Dubai when the conspiracy was hatched” and executed it with his brother and the third shooter, who is allegedly absconding. A pistol was recovered from Abdul Rashid, and two from the brother-duo’s mother, who was also an accused. She was acquitted. Bullets recovered by police tallied with pistols, the court added.
It may be mentioned here that the sessions court had acquitted 17 of the 18 accused in April 2002. The court convicted only Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant for murder, criminal conspiracy and under the Arms Act. The sessions court said, prosecution failed to establish motive, and failed to prove that Merchant was a contract killer.
Abdul Rauf’s counsel, Satish Maneshinde, said that both the judgements, against Abdul Rauf Dawood Merchant and Abdul Rashid, will be challenged before Supreme Court.