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Seven serial blasts case accused file bail pleas

JAIPUR: Despite a controversial resolution adopted by the District Bar Association not to represent any of the accused in the May 13 Jaipur serial blasts case, seven persons arrested from Kota on charges of conspiring with the alleged perpetrators of blasts have filed bail applications in the court here with the contention that they had no role in any clandestine activity.

After the detention of the seven on August 25 simultaneously with the arrest of prime accused Shahbaz Hussain from Lucknow, the Rajasthan police arrested four more persons from Kota and Baran on September 1 on charges of taking part in the activities of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

Though there are two separate cases – one for carrying out the blasts, registered under the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, and the other for joining the activities of SIMI, registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 – the State police have been accused of “mixing up” the two matters to enhance the gravity of offences and hoodwink the public.

The police remand of seven accused – Ishaq Qureshi, Taufeeq, Imran, Mehdi Hasan, Nazakat, Amanullah and Yunus – is due to expire on Sunday. Their bail application is likely to come up for hearing before the Judicial Magistrate assigned with the remand work for the holiday.

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) State president and noted lawyer, Prem Krishna Sharma, who has offered to represent the accused in the court despite resistance by his fellow lawyers, told The Hindu here on Saturday that the FIR registered in the case was “vague with no mention of explicit grounds”.

“The claim of the police that even an elderly physician, Ishaq Qureshi, was involved in SIMI’s activities is laughable. Merely knowing Sajid Mansuri who the Gujarat police claim masterminded the blasts does not make anyone criminal,” said Mr. Sharma, adding that the police were unable to provide any evidence – direct or indirect – implicating the detainees.

Mr. Sharma accused the State Government and police and investigating agencies of creating an atmosphere hostile for Muslims to justify indiscriminate arrests and illegal detentions and influence the courts. He regretted that even the Bar Associations were blindly toeing the police line by denying to the accused their fundamental right to defence.

Anxious relatives of some of the 11 accused, who gathered here over the weekend, expressed fear that the police would extract “fake confessions” by torturing the detainees. They said many of the detainees were ill and they did not know how they were being treated in custody, as there was no information about medical check-up of any of them.

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