August 8: Though investigations are on into the alleged shooting at Akhil Bharatiya Sena general secretary Jitendra Dabholkar's residence at Santacruz on Wednesday morning, the Mumbai police today said the complainant may be prosecuted if the case is found to be false.

``Dabholkar will be prosecuted if the case is malafide,'' said joint commissioner (crime) Ranjit Singh Sharma. ``The police are minutely examining the case,'' he added.

According to the police, preliminary investigations have revealed that no shooting incident took place at Dabholkar's residence in the early hours of Wednesday. No empty rounds have been recovered, nor have the police found any carbon deposits from the bullets. According to deputy commissioner of police (crime) K L Prasad, the neighbours too have confirmed that no sound of firing was heard on Wednesday night. There is absolutely no corroborative evidence to support the firing theory, Prasad added.

Earlier, ABS sources on Wednesday told Express Newsline that two youngsters in their late teens knocked at Dabholkar's residence at Amar Subway Co-op Housing Society early in the morning, asking him to open the door. They claimed they were policemen who had come to escort him to the police station. When Dabholkar refused to open the door, they opened fire through the peephole of his apartment, missing him narrowly. The guns were fitted with silencers, ABS sources claimed.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.