Money laundering case: CCTV footage of Pankaj Bhujabal threatening co-accused should be handed over, says court

Mumbai: A court in Mumbai on Wednesday asked authorities to give a copy of the CCTV footage to the two men who have alleged that former MLA Pankaj Bhujbal, an accused in a money laundering case, threatened them inside the court building. The special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases passed the order on an application filed by Amit Balraj and Sudhir Salaskar, both accused in the same case as Pankaj and his father, former state minister Chhagan Bhujbal. [caption id=“attachment_3504411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Chhagan Bhujbal. Image courtesy IBNLive[/caption] Balraj and Salaskar, former employees of Bhujbal’s Mumbai Education Trust, wanted CCTV footage of the corridor outside courtroom number 16 where the Bhujbals were produced on 16 May. They alleged that the Bhujbals held a meeting with their business associates in the courtroom when the judge was not there. Further, they alleged that Pankaj — who has not been arrested in the case yet — threatened them in the corridor. The duo filed a complaint with the Colaba police who registered a non-cognisable offence for criminal intimidation. Balraj and Salaskar had in February 2017 filed a plea seeking to become approvers in the case. The court directed that the department concerned should give a copy of the CCTV recording dated 16 May, 2017 from 11 am to 3 pm “of the passage outside courtroom number 16” to the applicants.