Supporting the prosecution case against Shivani Bhatnagar murder accsued R K Sharma, her one-time roommate in London on Wednesday told a Delhi court that she was privy to the "love affair" between the slain scribe and the senior IPS officer.
"Shivani had told me in London that R K Sharma is her close friend and she was in love with him and was having an affair with him," Saijal Shah who shared an apartment with Shivani in London, told Additional Sessions Judge Sunil Gaur.
The duo were in London to attend a three-month course starting March 8, 1998, after they were chosen for Chevening Scholorship sponsored by the British Foreign Office.
Shah said she and Shivani had decided to share one apartment in London as they developed an instant liking for each other and became close friends.
"Shivani used to receive phone calls from R K Sharma everyday and I knew about it as I used to pick the (common) phone at times... at times these calls were one hour long in my presence," Shah, a filmmaker from Mumbai said.
Identifying Sharma in the court, Shah said Shivani had a black and white photograph of Sharma and had shown it to her.
Shah recalled that Shivani had told her that R K Sharma was in Delhi and later on was posted with Air India at Bombay. On the frequency of calls, she quoted the slain jounalist to say that the while Sharma was posted in Delhi, the calls were less regular as he was scared of his wife.
The witness said Shivani had also told her that she was pregnant and she was very upset.
Shah said Shivani, during their talks, had told her that R K Sharma would come to London and stay with them.
However, he did not come and this had upset her, she said.
Shivani was also upset because Sharma had started ignoring her, the witness said and added Shivani used to cry a lot over this.
"In the last week of April, Shivani fell ill due to her pregnancy and she left the course for three weeks and came to India. She rejoined the course after three weeks," Shah said.
As the course ended, Shivani told her that she would come to Delhi via Mumbai as she wanted to meet Sharma, she said and added "Since we had got seperate tickets booked, I cannot say if she came to Delhi via Mumbai or not."
During cross examination, Shah said she had come to know about Shivani's murder in January 1999 from newspapers in Mumbai the very next day.
The witness said police investigating the case had met her in Mumbai 2002, but she could not recollect the month or date. She said police had also recorded her statement.
Shah's testimony remained incomplete and will resume tomorrow.
Six accused, including R K Sharma, are standing trial in the case. Shivani was found murdered at her East Delhi apartment on January 23, 1999.