MUMBAI, Dec. 30 -- As a special court constituted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) recently recorded further evidence against accused Farooq Mansuri, also known as Farooq Takla, and Tribhuvan Rampati Singh alias Shrikant Rai Rampati Rai, the proceedings have once again brought into focus the 1992 Sir JJ Hospital shootout, one of the most brazen underworld attacks in the city, in which gangster Shailesh Haldankar and two on-duty police constables were shot dead. The shootout occurred in the early hours of September 12, 1992, at the state-run facility where Haldankar, an alleged sharpshooter of the Arun Gawli gang, was admitted. According to the prosecution's case, fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar ordered the assault to avenge the killing of his brother-in-law, Ismail Parkar. Court documents outline the sequence of events leading up to the attack. Some Dawood gang members first carried out reconnaissance at the hospital to assess the police deployment. Subsequently, a team of two dozen shooters arrived in the early morning, armed with AK-47 rifles, pistols and revolvers. The assailants were alleged to have posed as police escorts. When the armed men attempted to enter the ward, the police constables on guard shut the door, following which shots were fired at the closed door. Haldankar and the two constables posted for his security were killed in the shooting. A central figure in the prosecution narrative was Subhashsingh Thakur, who was arrested by the Delhi Police in July 1993. Thakur reportedly confessed to playing a role in planning and execution of the operation. Court proceedings culminated in Thakur being sentenced to death, subsequently commuted to life imprisonment on appeal. Thakur is presently incarcerated in connection with a 2022 murder case, wherein he was booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Police have described Thakur - known in Vasai-Virar as "Chacha" - as a figure who allegedly acted as an intermediary in property disputes. Meanwhile, the trial against Takla and Rampati Singh has reached the evidence stage after decades of delay, largely due to their prolonged abscondence and consequent separation of their trial from proceedings against other accused....