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Pota applied to Mumbai bomb blast accused
Mumbai, Jan 03: Mumbai police today invoked Pota against four persons, alleged to have planned and executed a bomb blast in suburban Ghatkopar on December two that claimed two lives and left 31 others injured, even as a local court further remanded them to police custody till January 17.
Mumbai, Jan 03: Mumbai police today invoked Pota
against four persons, alleged to have planned and executed a
bomb blast in suburban Ghatkopar on December two that claimed
two lives and left 31 others injured, even as a local court
further remanded them to police custody till January 17.
The defence counsel Abbas Kazmi today filed Vakalatnamas on behalf of the four accused and moved an application for home food and permission to allow relatives to meet the accused.
The counsel also pressed for oral legal interviews of the accused since they were in no position to write out their interview. Their hands were trembling even while signing the legal papers. They are presently in no frame of mind to write out their views and appear traumatised, he said.
However, following the public prosecutor Rohini Salian`s statement that they had earlier been permitted a legal interview on December 27, the judge directed the counsel to seek the interview in a written format in the presence of the investigating officer.
The public prosecutor also pressed for the accused being constantly handcuffed given the serious charges they were facing. However, the defence counsel objected to the plea stating that the youths were highly educated software engineers and were at an impressionable age. To which the public prosecutor immediately retorted that they appeared more to be youths gone astray rather than stated otherwise.
Observing that it was sad that such educated employed youths had been attracted to such crimes, the judge ordered the accused to be handcuffed while being transported to distant places from their place of custody.
The judge subsequently turned down the application for home food since the accused`s relatives hailed from Aurangabad and hence the provision for home food appeared redundant. The plea for meeting relatives was also rejected since investigations were at a crucial stage currently.
Later terming the Ghatkopar blast as a "deep rooted conspiracy and the motive was to create and spread terror and fear", police justified their act of applying Pota against the accused.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Shridhar Vagal told reporters that the police had enough evidence against the four accused to book them under Pota.
Asked why Pota has been applied against the four accused, Vagal reiterated that we have some evidence to put them under different sections of the terrorist act. They are also booked under few sections of IPC, Explosive Act and damage to Public Property Act, he added.
Because of the available evidence during the probe, we requested the court to grant permission to produce the accused before a special judge, Vagal said.
Police are working out details to nab others involved in the blast conspiracy, he said and refused to divulge any further details.
To a query, the senior police official said the section for waging a war against nation has not yet been applied to the accused.
Bureau Report
The counsel also pressed for oral legal interviews of the accused since they were in no position to write out their interview. Their hands were trembling even while signing the legal papers. They are presently in no frame of mind to write out their views and appear traumatised, he said.
However, following the public prosecutor Rohini Salian`s statement that they had earlier been permitted a legal interview on December 27, the judge directed the counsel to seek the interview in a written format in the presence of the investigating officer.
The public prosecutor also pressed for the accused being constantly handcuffed given the serious charges they were facing. However, the defence counsel objected to the plea stating that the youths were highly educated software engineers and were at an impressionable age. To which the public prosecutor immediately retorted that they appeared more to be youths gone astray rather than stated otherwise.
Observing that it was sad that such educated employed youths had been attracted to such crimes, the judge ordered the accused to be handcuffed while being transported to distant places from their place of custody.
The judge subsequently turned down the application for home food since the accused`s relatives hailed from Aurangabad and hence the provision for home food appeared redundant. The plea for meeting relatives was also rejected since investigations were at a crucial stage currently.
Later terming the Ghatkopar blast as a "deep rooted conspiracy and the motive was to create and spread terror and fear", police justified their act of applying Pota against the accused.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Shridhar Vagal told reporters that the police had enough evidence against the four accused to book them under Pota.
Asked why Pota has been applied against the four accused, Vagal reiterated that we have some evidence to put them under different sections of the terrorist act. They are also booked under few sections of IPC, Explosive Act and damage to Public Property Act, he added.
Because of the available evidence during the probe, we requested the court to grant permission to produce the accused before a special judge, Vagal said.
Police are working out details to nab others involved in the blast conspiracy, he said and refused to divulge any further details.
To a query, the senior police official said the section for waging a war against nation has not yet been applied to the accused.
Bureau Report