Renuka, who accompanied Seema as directed by the court before the hearing began, said that on their return to the city's sub-jail at Bindu Chowk on Wednesday, they found their belongings, including photographs and idols of various deities, destroyed.

Renuka said they were told by the authorities that ``such things'' were not allowed inside the jail and were therefore removed. They were also told that the court's permission was needed to retain the items, Renuka added.

She urged the court to grant them permission to keep their photographs and idols. The court assured her that the request would be looked into.

Meanwhile, panch witness Ratan Jagtap told the court today that the Nashik police had found neither cash nor any gold ornaments during theirsearch of the Gavit residence in Shivshahi Apartments, Pune, on October 18, 1996.

In his deposition, Jagtap said the police had impounded articles like fixed deposit certificates, bank pass books, a paid counter-slip receipt, a colour television and a tape-recorder besides sarees and children's clothes from the Gavit residence.

However, he said, the police did not find cash or ornaments. The panch witness, who works as a car driver, refuted defence counsel Manik Mulik's allegations that the Nashik police sub-inspector was instrumental in settling the dispute between him and his wife and that this was the reason he had agreed to help the police in the case, making ``false statements'' before the court.

During the cross-examination by Mulik, Jagtap said that when the police team reached the Gavit residence, they found some children sleeping in the hall. They woke up about 15 minutes later, he said. He denied the charge that the police had removed the children's clothes.

Another panch witness, DevidasShivdas Deshmukh, who deposed before the court on Thursday, recalled the day, October 30, 1996, when the Mhamulkars had identified the clothes belonging to their son, Pankaj, in his presence.

Devidas said Sharmila Mhamulkar and her husband Suhas Mhamulkar from Mumbai were called for identification on October 30 and that he (Deshmukh) was called in as panch witness at that time.

The duo identified their son's clothes from five different pairs of coloured trousers and shirts of children between the age group of three to four years before the magistrate at the Government Rest House in Nashik.