Believe it or not, a man has lived with a bullet in his body for the past two years. In 2010 Prashant Chhabria, 41, was shot at on the left side of his abdomen by three gunmen, reportedly in a case of extortion.
Two agonising years after the incident, Mr Chhabria appeared as a witness before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Monday.
He informed the court that the bullet was still lodged on the left side of his abdomen and identified three out of the seven accused who had shot at him in 2010. All the seven gangsters are believed to be from the Ravi Pujari gang.
Mr Chhabria, who still works at the Mahesh Notandas Jewellery shop, identified the three men — Harshad Maru, Kannu Thakur and Narendra Son — before special MCOCA Judge S.M. Modak during the identification of evidence. Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said, “The witness has said that the bullet is lodged in his body. He has said that doctors haven’t been able to take it out of his body due to his high blood pressure.”
When the judge asked Maru whether he wanted to say anything in his defence, he said, “The witness couldn’t recognise me initially but when a policeman signalled to him, he pointed the finger at me. I am being framed in the matter.”
The three men had barged into the jewellery shop at Lokhandwala Complex in July 2010 and asked for the owner Mahesh Bhai. When Mr Chhabria refused to oblige, a heated argument between the salesman and the trio ensued, and Maru shot Mr Chhabria in his abdomen. Mr Chhabria collapsed and was later rushed to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Hospital.