Kerala - Kochi   

Bus-burning a planned act, says prosecution

KOCHI: Soofiya Maudany, wife of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasir Maudany and the 10th accused in the Kalamassery bus-burning case, was produced before the Court of Judicial Magistrate of First Class 2, Aluva, on Friday afternoon.

B. Raman Pillai, who appeared for the accused, contended that the inclusion of the petitioner as an accused at a belated stage and her arrest and detention were with ulterior motives.

He said the “false inclusion and arrest of the petitioner was a politically motivated act with the intention of gaining political mileage.” There was also no material evidence to link the petitioner to the case, he said.

Mr. Pillai argued that the petitioner was arrayed as an accused at the instance of the Karnataka Police, which claimed that suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Thadiyantavide Nazir had revealed the name of the accused.

Opposing the bail application, the prosecution said the Kerala High Court had stated that the Kalamassery bus-burning case was an act of terrorism.

The bus-burning incident was not an accidental one but a pre-meditated and pre-planned act. Telephone calls were made from a mobile phone to the other accused in the case before and after the incident.

The police have also collected sufficient evidence in this regard.

The prosecution said Soofiya Maudany had instructed the other accused in the case to act as per the instructions of Thadiyantavide Nazir. There was ample evidence to prove that the she abetted and conspired to wage war against the Tamil Nadu government, he argued.

As the court rejected the bail application, the counsel for the petitioner prayed that the accused should be sent to the Ernakulam sub-jail instead of Muvattupuzha sub-jail.

The court remanded her to the Ernakulam sub-jail, as the prosecution did not oppose the prayer.

Senior PDP leaders, including Ponthura Siraj, were present in the courtroom.

A large posse of police personnel was posted near the court premises from Friday morning.

The police blocked the thoroughway near the court complex a couple of times by erecting barricades.

Soofiya Maudany was brought to the courtroom at 2.25 p.m. escorted by women constables and commandos.

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