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'Expose just another ploy by Teesta'
December 22, 2004 19:50 IST
Prime witness in Best Bakery case Zaheera Sheikh on Wednesday denied she had taken or demanded money from Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Madhu Srivastava to recant her statement.
Addressing an impromptu press conference outside the special court after her deposition in the Best Bakery retrial, Zaheera said she did not even know the Gujarat MLA named in the expose video clip.
Replying to a query about latest expose by 'Tehelka' in a video clip where Srivastava has been quoted as saying that Zaheera demanded Rs 35 lakh and took Rs 18 lakh from him, the key witness said "the allegations are false".
She alleged all this was part of a conspiracy hatched by social activist Teesta Setalvad and Chandrakant Srivastava, Congress corporator from Vadodara who was also related to the BJP MLA, to "defame" her.
She said her earlier allegations about Madhu Srivastava threatening her to turn hostile were made at the instance of Setalvad.
Earlier, responding to a question by the prosecution about the allegation of her demanding Rs 35 lakhs from Madhu Srivastava and accepting Rs 18 lakhs, Zaheera said, "I am a god fearing person and I have to face Allah".
When the question was repeated by prosecutor Manjula Rao, Zaheera said, "Tell me from whom I have accepted money?".