Arms case: Samad moves court seeking bail

Abdul Samad Bhatkal, arrested in a 2009 illegal arms seizure case and a suspect in the Pune blast case, has approached a sessions court for bail.

Mumbai: Abdul Samad Bhatkal, arrested in a
2009 illegal arms seizure case and a suspect in the Pune blast
case, has approached a sessions court for bail.

Samad, who was sent to judicial custody Tuesday in
connection with the arms case, moved the sessions court after
the metropolitan magistrate rejected his bail plea stating
that investigation was still in progress.

Samad was arrested by Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on May
25 from the Mangalore airport and was booked under the Arms
Act for supplying firearms to three other persons, who were
arrested in August last year.

Soon after his arrest, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
had stated that Samad was a prime suspect in the February 2010
German Bakery blast in Pune that killed 17 persons and injured
several others.

However, ATS has till now not booked Samad in the Pune
blast case.

Samad in his bail plea, which will be heard tomorrow,
has stated that there no serious allegations levelled against
him and there has been no recovery of arms from him.

"The remaining three accused in the arms case are out on
bail. So, on grounds of parity even Samad should be granted
bail. Moreover, if his name had figured in this case last year
itself, why did the ATS wait for a year before arresting him.
He has been falsely implicated," Samad`s lawyer Mubin Solkar
contended.

PTI

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