By Abdul Hameed, TwoCircles.net
Mumbai: After spending a long time in jail the accused in Mulund blast case Ghulam Akbar Khotal may now walk free as a special court of Prevention Of Terrorism Act (POTA) granted him bail on Monday. Khotal is one of the 16 accused in Mulund blast.
Advocate Shahid Azmi, appointed by Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra to follow Khotal’s case, told that Khotal was accused of making residence arrangements for the two Pakistani terrorists killed in Jogeshwari encounter and of supplying Rs 50 thousand to them. Arrested on May 21, 2003 Khotal was also accused of planting chemical pipe bombs and other weapons.
Azmi told the court that neither the statement of any witness nor the confessed statement of Khotal establishes his involvement in the blasts or any other illegal activity.
Earlier, two other accused in the case Atif Mulla and Arif Husain Panwala were granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
After hearing the arguments the special POTA court judge M R Purank agreed to grant him bail on a personal bond of one lakh.
In the Mulund blast taking place in a first class ladies compartment of a local train at Mulund railway station, 12 people were killed while 71 others were left injured. Several persons were injured in the December 6, 2002 Mumbai Central Railway Station blast. A bomb attached to a cycle went off on 27th January 2003 in a market of Vile Parle (E) claiming one life while injuring 30 persons.
The police had filed a combined chargesheet in the three blasts – Mulund, Viler Parle and Mumbai Central Railway – against 16 persons. Three of them including Ghulam Khotal have been granted bail while Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra has approached the Bombay High Court for the bail of other four accused.