In the Jiah Khan suicide case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday informed a special court that it is dropping actor Aditya Pancholi as witness. He is the father of actor Suraj Pancholi, who is standing trial in the case.
The agency’s prosecutor Manoj Chaladan said the witness is “won-over” by the accused and examining him will only damage their case. It has also dropped another witness, who used to work as a domestic help for the Pancholis.
While the CBI had not recorded the statement of Aditya Pancholi, the Juhu police station, which had probed the case before the Central agency took over, had done so.
What Aditya Pancholi said in his statement
As per the statement, he had narrated the circumstances how he visited Jiah’s mother Rabia Khan with his son after the suicide. The mother is an intervenor in the case. Her advocate Shekhar Jagtap said they were about to make a plea seeking that the CBI not examine him, but did not file it as the prosecution decided to drop him and informed the court.
In his statement to the Juhu police in June 2013, Aditya Pancholi had said he was acquainted with Jiah and her mother, and had spoken to his son after reading about his relationship with Jiah. He said Suraj told him they were only friends. Regarding the visit after the incident, he said he was at a friend Anju Mahendru’s home where Rabia was also present, but she had left and he had stayed on.
The troubled life of Jiah Khan
Soon, Rabia had called Mahendru crying and in panic. Mahendru had asked him to immediately take them in his car to Rabia’s home. He had driven them and was with the car when one of them, who had gone up to the flat, informed him of the incident.
He said he had informed his son over the phone and later that night visited Rabia along with his son. After consoling her, he said he had told her that he had advised Jiah not to continue the relationship with his son as he was concentrating on his career, but she did not heed his advice.
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