The High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Kafeel Ahmed Mohammad Ayub (65), an accused in the triple bomb blast case that took place in Mumbai on July 13, 2011. Kafeel will be released after thirteen years due to a court decision.
The special court had refused to grant bail to Ayub in 2022. Ayub then approached the High Court seeking bail. A bench of Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Ranjitsinh Bhosale granted him bail while deciding his petition on Tuesday. The court's order mainly stated that the case against Ayub has been pending for a long time and the chances of it ending in the near future are slim. Keeping this in mind and his age, he is being granted bail.
On July 13, 2011, three bomb blasts were carried out simultaneously near a school in the bustling Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House, and Dadar Pigeon House areas of Mumbai. Mumbai was once again shaken by these blasts. Ayub, originally from Bihar, was arrested in February 2012 in connection with these blasts. Since then, he has been lodged in Mumbai's Central Jail.
The special court had rejected Ayub's bail application in 2022. Ayub had challenged that order in the High Court. He is innocent and has been implicated in this case. While seeking bail, Ayub had claimed that the government party had no concrete evidence against him other than the coerced statements.Similarly, he had also claimed in the petition that he has been in prison for over a decade and that there is no possibility of the case being resolved.
The exact reason for granting bail is that Ayub was arrested in February 2012 and has been in custody since then. He was then charged with terrorism on March 5, 2021. However, over the past four and a half years, the prosecution has examined only 167 witnesses, and 233 witnesses are yet to be recorded. Therefore, the chances of the trial being concluded in the near future are slim. The bench observed in the order that Ayub is eligible for bail, noting that he suffers from age and some age-related problems.
What is the case?
The blasts were carried out by the terrorist organization Indian Mujahideen, and the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) claimed that the organization's founder, Yasin Bhatkal, was the mastermind behind the plot.
The police had alleged that Ayub and the other accused in the case had incited Muslim youth to participate in terrorist acts on the orders of the Indian Mujahideen. It was also claimed that Ayub was in contact with the main mastermind, Yasin Bhatkal.
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