A key witness in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case who had identified the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Ajmal Kasab in the court died on Tuesday in his Kalyan residence in Maharashtra’s Thane district.
Harishchandra Shrivardhakar was 70. His family members said that he died on Tuesday.
On the night of 26 November 2008, when the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists launched terror attacks near Cama hospital in South Mumbai, he was hit with two bullets fired by the Pakistani terrorists. He had also thrashed one of terrorist and Kasab’s accomplice Abu Ismail with his office bag.
Shrivardhankar was among those who testified in court in the Mumbai attack case, and had identified Ajmal Kasab as one of the attackers.
Reportedly, a few days ago he was found lying on a footpath in Kalyan in a starved condition by a shopkeeper. His family had lodged a missing complaint as he was missing for around two months during the lockdown. The shopkeeper Dean D’Souza along with his friends had helped Shrivardhakar in reuniting with his family.
After finding Shrivardhankar, D’Souza informed his friend Timothy Gaikwad who runs NGO, IMCARES about Shrivardhankar’s plight as he was unable to speak or eat. Shrivardhankar had managed to mumble a few words, which had helped them to track his family with the help of police. They had also given him a bath, a shave, some liquid food, which had helped him to gradually regain his health.
After the story went viral, BJP Leader Devendra Fadnavis checked on the medical condition of Shrivardhankar at a private hospital in Kalyan two weeks back. The former chief minister also announced that BJP would provide Rs 10 lakh to help Harishchandra Shrivardhankar’s family. He was survived by his wife, two sons and daughter-in-law.
