Mumbai, June 12: two accused in Ghatkopar bomb blast case, Zaheer Ahmed Bashir Ahmed and Abdul Mateen Basit, today urged for bail in a special court, challenging their arrest under Prevention of Terrorist Act and claiming they were innocent and not involved in the alleged crime. The bail petitions, filed by their lawyer Majeed Memon, came up before designated judge A P Bhangale who decided to hear them on June 18.
Basit said at the time of the blast in Ghatkopar here on December 2 last year, he was engaged in professional duties at Aurangabad. Therefore his involvement was "far-fetched" and "unimaginable". Zaheer has also raised a similar defence saying he was in Aurangabad at the time of blast. Basit said that evidence against him was "unreliable and fraught with inconsistencies". The witnesses were "pliable and obsequious". Their statements fail to bring out the case of conspiracy and harbouring of terrorists, Basit contended.
Basit said he had not given confessional statements or disclosed information about having knowledge of the offence. The statements of co-accused were also not incriminating. Basit claimed he was being made a "scapegoat" because he had exposed the "brutal torture" of co-accused Khwaja Yunus in police custody by tendering evidence against the policemen during judicial probe in the court.
The accused also drew the court's attention towards an alleged threat meted out to him by a policeman asking him not to speak in the court on Khwaja Yunus' alleged disappearance from police custody or else he may have to face consequences. Bureau Report