MUMBAI: A special TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) court on Saturday rejected both the discharge application and the bail plea of 63-year-old Tribhuvan Rampati Singh, arrested last year in connection with the 1992 JJ Hospital shootout and gangwar linked to the Dawood Ibrahim–Arun Gawli gang rivalry. The court held that there was sufficient prima facie material to proceed against him, highlighting the danger of tampering with evidence if bail was granted.
Singh was arrested in October 2024, after which the hearing for the shootout case began on April 15. On August 5, he filed two petitions with the TADA court, seeking to quash the case against him and, if not, grant bail.
In his plea, Singh sought discharge from the case, claiming that he was a victim of mistaken identity. In this matter, special TADA judge Mahesh Jadhav said this defence could only be examined during the trial of the case, which is expected to begin later this month with charges set to being framed on November 10.
During the hearing of the petitions on Saturday, the court said, “The material placed on record by the prosecution is sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused in this case,” adding that witness statements, identification, medical evidence, and confessional material under TADA pointed to his role in the shootout.
To this, the defence questioned the credibility of the Test Identification Parade conducted more than three decades after the incident. But the court noted that two witnesses — Madhukar Shirsath and Vijay Nagare — identified the applicant, holding the challenge premature.
“The defence about mistaken identity is required to be considered at the stage of trial and not at this interim stage, when the eyewitness identifies him as one of the assailants,” the court further said.
The court also referred to medical findings and Singh’s alleged refusal to give a DNA sample. “Medical examination reflects that the applicant sustained injuries in the incident and later fled. When asked to give a blood sample for DNA profiling, he flatly denied,” the judge said.
Dismissing the discharge application, the court emphasised the limited scope of scrutiny at this stage, and found that the charges against him were not proved. Also, it denied bail, noting the prosecution’s contention that Singh was a notorious criminal from Uttar Pradesh with multiple pending cases against him, and that the bail could risk tampering with evidence.
The 1992 shootout
According to the police, the JJ Hospital shootout on September 12, 1992, was allegedly ordered by fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar to avenge the killing of his brother-in-law Ibrahim Parkar, allegedly by the Arun Gawli gang. The attack left gangster Shailesh Haldankar and two police constables dead.
Further investigation has revealed that 24 Dawood gang members, led by Subhashsingh Thakur, stormed the hospital ward to eliminate Haldankar. Two gunmen allegedly opened fire with AK-47 rifles, and Singh was identified as one of them.
After he was traced to a Uttar Pradesh prison, he was arrested on a production warrant in October 2024.