Srinagar- A special NIA court here on Monday rejected bail application of ten second-rung separatist leaders and activists who were arrested earlier this year in connection with a case regarding reviving the banned outfit JKLF.
On 9 July this year, police had taken 43 persons to police station Kothibagh Srinagar from Habib Restaurant here. Police had later let off 33 persons and arrested 10 accused. As per the Investigation Officer, these 33 persons—32 adults and one juvenile were allowed to go after furnishing bonds, because nothing “incriminating” was found against them.
Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar, special judge designated under the NIA Act, Sandeep Gandotra, rejected the pleas of the ten accused, saying if they were enlarged on bail at this stage, it will put at risk the interests of the public and the state.
“The accused persons were booked under section 10, 13, 18 UAP Act…..in the humble opinion of this court the stage has not risen for this court to record its satisfaction with regard to the ‘prima facie’ truthfulness of the accusation or otherwise against the accused/applicant,” the court said, adding, “Serious allegations have been made against all the accused persons /applicants ……Objectionable and incriminating materials have been seized from some accused persons which include the letters written by Yaseen Malik seeking freedom of J&K and some photographs depicting “Kashmir Banega Pakistan”.”
Some accused persons, the court was told, have talked to terrorists across the border in Pakistan on the evening prior to the meeting and on the morning of the meeting on 9 July.
“The report of CCTV and DVR footage of Habib Restaurant is yet to be obtained from the FSL; the report of some electronic gadgets and laptops are yet to be obtained from FSL; the reports of mobile phones of some accused persons/applicants have been obtained from FSL and they run into thousands of pages which are being analyzed,” the court observed, adding, “The report pertaining to (one of the) accused Mohd Yaseen Bhat is of 55,000 pages.”
Subsequently, the court rejected bail pleas of Firdous Ahmad Shah of Abiguzar Srinagar, Jahangir Ahmad Bhat of Botengo Sopore, Saheel alias Suhail Ahmad Mir of Umer Abad Peerbagh, Khursheed Ahmad Bhat of Iqbal Colony Rawalpora, Syed Rehman Shams alias Shams-u-din Rehmani of Goti Uttar Dinajpur West Bengal at present Lalbazar, Sajad Hussain Gul of Panthachowk, Mohammad Rafiq Phaloo alias Salim Nanaji of Natipora, Ghulam Hassan Parray alias Firdousi of Lawaypora Srinagar, Mohammed Yaseen Bhat of Naseembagh Hazratbal Srinagar and Shabir Ahmad Dar of Badambagh Sopore.
“The accused persons/applicants are not entitled to bail at this stage. The embargo contained under section 43(D) proviso 5 is attracted in the present case and the accused persons/applicants herein does not deserve the latitude of bail at this stage,” the court said, adding, “Further, if the accused persons / applicants are enlarged on bail at this stage, public interests/ interests of state/UT shall be put to stake.”
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