Madani remanded to police custody till August 26

M.today

Bangalore, Aug 17: The Karnataka police on Tuesday arrested People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Abdul Nasser Madani, for his alleged role in the Bangalore blasts, at his home at Anwarassey in Kerala as he was preparing to go to a local court to surrender.

He was later brought to Bangalore by a Kingfisher Airlines flight and produced before the First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Venkatesh R Hulgi, who remanded the PDP leader to police custody till August 26.





At Anwarssery, the vehicle in which Madani was preparing to go to the court was taken over by the police on the directions of Kollam Superintendent of Police Harshita Attalloori and Bangalore Joint Police Commissioner Alok Kumar. The arrest was made at 1:15 pm, the deadline given to Madani to surrender, Attalloori told newsmen.

Though it was felt that Madani might be permitted to surrender, Karnataka police officials were in no mood to allow it and preferred to fly him to Bangalore at the earliest. Though an effort was made to book tickets by the Jet Airways flight from Thiruvananthapuram at 4:40 pm, sufficient seats were not available for the police personnel and so the police party with Madani left by a Kingfisher Airlines flight at 7:45 pm.

Before leaving for Bangalore, Madani said at the airport that he would return and serve Kerala if “I come back alive” from Karnataka. He thanked the state police for maintaining peace at Anwarssery and also appealed to his supporters not to communalise his arrest just “because the government in Karnataka was headed by the BJP.”

‘Black day’
The PDP will observe Wednesday as “black day” to protest against the refusal of Karnataka police to allow Madani’s surrender before the court. Two buses and two cars were stoned by agitated activists near Karunagapally, the town near Anwarssery. Some activists also tried to force shops in Karunagapally to close down leading to tension for sometime. However, the situation was brought under control by the police.

In Bangalore, the State High Court, hearing the Bangalore blast case, was requested to grant time till Wednesday to present arguments in the matter related to Madani, who has sought the quashing of the chargesheet against him.

The High Court had asked Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Chandramouli to state the incriminating evidence found while preparing the additional chargesheet on June 9, 2010, before the Magistrate court. The SPP asked for a day’s time, as the investigating officer was in Kerala to arrest Madani and for obtaining the chargesheet in the Coimbatore blast case. During the hearing, Ravi B Naik, senior counsel for Madani, argued that his name was on the chargesheet mainly due to the statement by T Nazir, the main accused in the blast case. Nazir had said he met Madani and received instructions from him to carry out the crime. The additional chargesheet was filed based on this evidence alone and no other substantial evidence was collected against Madani, he argued.

Naik also submitted that the sanction of the Centre was necessary before taking cognisance against Madani under Section 45 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1965. This was not complied with, he stated.

In another court move, the Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain Madani’s petition for interim bail, on the grounds that it had become irrelevant after his arrest by the Karnataka police.

As soon as the matter came up for hearing in the SC, State government advocate S H Hegde submitted that Madani was arrested by the Karnataka police in the afternoon. “There is no question of anticipatory bail,’’ the apex court judges said. Madani could apply for regular bail before a competent court which would hear it expeditiously.