JJ Hospital officials on Thursday set off a debate on Rahul Raj, suggesting initially that the police bullets that killed him could have been fired at close range, and then doing a U-turn denying it. Raj had taken over a BEST bus at gunpoint before being shot dead by policemen. The post-mortem was done at JJ Hospital.First, Dr B G Chikalkar, associate professor for forensic medicine, told NDTV 24×7, “After the firing the gunpowder gets stuck on the skin inside. If there is tattooing around the entry wound, it indicates close-range firing.” The denial came from Dr B M Subnis, dean of the Sir JJ Group of Hospitals. “Details of the post mortem are not available with me as it is a medico-legal case. The report has been submitted to the judge. Besides, the said doctor denies giving any such statement to the press.” Dr Chikalkar refused to comment any further. So did the head of his department, Dr A Nandedkar. The hospital issued a press statement saying the post mortem was done by a team of four qualified doctors in the daytime.Later, the Mumbai Police crime branch denied there was any blackening around the wounds. “I received the post-mortem report this afternoon. There is no mention of any blackening. We will find out why Dr B G Chikalkar made a statement contrary to the report. He was one of four doctors who conducted the post-mortem,” said JCP (Crime) Rakesh Maria.The report identifies five entry wounds, two on the scalp and one each on the ear, chest and torso. “There is no way yet of knowing the distance from which he was shot. We will send specimens of the skin around the entry wounds to the Kalina Forensic Sciences Laboratory. Only an analysis can determine whether the shots were fired from close range, intermediate range or long range,” said Maria.Close range means anywhere up to six feet, experts say.The post-mortem report would also be considered by the one-man inquiry being conducted for the state by the chief secretary, said government sources. “When the inquiry started, the police had not given the post-mortem report. Now they are expected to do so,” a source said. The state is independently recording statements of witnesses that will be cross-checked with statements received from police. “Basically the statement of Manoj Bhagat is going to be most essential. He was the only person who saw what actually happened. He was shot and sitting there,” said the source.
