FAIZABAD, MAY 16:The hearing in the Faizabad district court serial blasts’ case could not begin on Thursday as the UP Police and the Anti-Terrorist Squad, which is the investigating agency in the case, failed to produce the prime witness Purushottam Pandey before Additional Sessions Judge R K Gautam.

The constable, who was sent to deliver Pandey the summons at his residence in Hansapur village, said the address in the records turned out to be fake. In his report to the court, constable Kanahyya Lal said village pradhan Arauni Prasad Paswan said no person by the name lived in the village. “It is a big jolt to the prosecution since they were not able to present their first witness before the court,” said Mansur Ilahi, secretary of the Faizabad Bar Association (FBA).

Investigating officer Rajesh Pandey, however, assured that the witness would be produced in the court. “There must be a communication gap,” he added. The court has deferred the case to May 28.

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