Mumbai: The bail plea of Abdul Samad, who
the ATS said is linked to German bakery blast fuelling a row
after his arrest in an arms seizure case, was today rejected
by a court but the police did not seek his custody afresh.
Maharashtra`s Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) did not press
for Samad`s custody in a local court after apparently failing
to produce any evidence linking him with the February 14 blast
in Pune in which 17 persons were killed.
Rejecting the bail plea, Magistrate M V Morale sent
23-year-old Samad, who was produced before him, to judicial
custody till June 14 after he read the remand application of
ATS.
The judge rejected the bail plea stating that the
offences under the Arms Act for which Samad has been booked is
serious. The investigation in the arms case is still in
progress and hence releasing him would not be safe, he said.
The ATS claimed that Samad is not co-operating with the
investigation but surprised the court by saying that "we
do not need his custody as of now so he may be sent to
judicial custody...if needed we (ATS) will take his custody
later."
According to the ATS application, Samad is gangster
Chota Shakeel`s aide and the firearms that were recovered from
three arrested persons--Haji Imran Ghulam Mohammad, Afzal
Shaikh and Sulieman Mehmood Patel--on Aug five, 2009 in south
Mumbai was supplied by him.
There is one more wanted accused in the arms case who is
absconding in Karnataka and further investigation is on to
find out why the arms were supplied to the three accused.
Samad, who hails from Bhatkal village of Karnatka, sought
bail soon after he was remanded in judicial custody.
Samad contended there were no serious allegations
against him, and that three other accused, who were arrested
in the arms case last year, were already out on bail.
"There is no whisper of any serious allegation against
me...there has been no recovery of arms from him...the three
arrested accused in the case are out on bail so on grounds of
parity I should also be released on bail," he said.
The Samad case is gradually turning out to be an
embarrassment for ATS that even Union Home Minister P
Chidambaram had a word of caution.
"On May 25, 2010, ATS Maharashtra arrested one of the
prime suspects in the Pune blast case.
"I wish to impress upon everyone that the arrested
person, at this stage, is only a suspect and hence this
information should be treated with circumspection,"
Chidambaram had said yesterday," the minister said.
PTI
