Ahmedabad, Sept 03: A special Pota court here today rejected Hyderabad police's application seeking transfer warrant for Asghar Ali and Mohammed Abdul Rauf, allegedly involved in the killing of former Gujarat Home and Revenue Minister Haren Pandya. Moving the application, Hyderabad police officials told the court that Asghar Ali was wanted in several offences including that of abetting a militant to escape from judicial custody, which were nearing trial. The officials said though the cases were not connected to Pota they were of `equal importance'. Advocate J M Panchal appearing for the state government, however, argued that the offences against Ali and Rauf in Gujarat were `more serious in nature' and that Ali has a history of escaping from police custody. Moreover, Ali and Rauf could not be transferred to Hyderabad as Section 268 of CRPC (preventing them from leaving central jail premises) could not be revoked or set aside, Panchal aruged.
Both were arrested by the CBI, which is investigating the Pandya murder case, from Hyderabad on April 17 this year and the agency has slapped the anti-terror law in the case.
Bureau Report