A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Saturday granted bail to the nine accused arrested in connection with the 2006 bomb blasts in Malegaon. The bail was granted to them after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) decided not to oppose their bail plea.
The accused, identified as Salman Farsi, Shabir Ahmed, Noorulhuda Doha, Rais Ahmed, Mohammed Ali, Asif Khan, Javed Sheikh, Farooque Ansari and Abrar Ahmed were arrested for the bomb blasts near the Hamidia Mosque in Malegaon on September 8, 2006 and have been in jail since then.
The NIA, in its report, said that the decision to not oppose the bail application filed by the accused was taken “in light of facts and circumstances after due deliberations”.
The key factor in swinging the hearing in the favour of the accused was the confession of Swami Aseemanand, who was arrested in 2007 for his alleged role in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case. He had, in his confession, said that a right-wing group was involved in the Malegaon bomb blasts. Following the confession, the NIA had reviewed the findings of the ATS and the CBI, and later collected some fresh evidence in the case. “The confession makes it clear that those responsible for the Malegaon blasts of 2006 are far removed from the accused. Besides, they have already been in jail for the last four years and there is little direct evidence to link any of them to the blasts, apart from a forcibly extracted statement,” the bail application contended.
Consequently, MCOCA judge Y.D. Shinde granted bail to all the nine accused on a surety of `50,000 each.
The accused are supposed to report to the local police stations once every week.
“Two of the accused — Asif Khan and Mohammed Ali — will not be released as they are also charged for the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. The remaining seven will be allowed to go after formalities are completed by Tuesday,” defence lawyer Jaleel Ansari said.