A special court in Ahmedabad has rejected regular bail plea of three accused in the July 26, 2008 serial blasts in the city that had claimed 57 lives.
Judge B J Dhandha, presiding over the case, rejected the bail plea of 2008 serial blasts accused, Ummar Kabira, Naved Kadri and Salim Sipahi, while kept Hasib Raza's plea pending, on which, orders would be passed later.
While the four accused had contended that there was no evidence against them and they had no role to play in the terror conspiracy, the state government had opposed their plea contending that the four were a part of the terror conspiracy that triggered over 20 synchronised bomb blasts across the city on July 26, 2008.
Raza had defended himself, while the other three accused were represented by Aziz Alvi, who argued that there was no evidence against his clients being part of terror conspiracy.
He had further argued that there was no recovery or discovery from his clients that could prove their involvement in serial blasts.
Raza argued that his role, was limited to giving shelter to absconding accused Abdus Subhan Tauqueer and others, and was nowhere connected to the terror conspiracy.
State government had opposed the bail plea contending that the four accused were part of the terror conspiracy and cannot be let out on bail.
The state government had said that the accused have been members of banned outfit SIMI and were associated with Indian Mujahideen (IM), while being involved in the terror conspiracy.
Their roles may have been limited, but they were part of a larger plot of spreading terror in Gujarat, state government had submitted. It had further argued that granting bail to accused in such case could hamper probe and could prove harmful for the society.
The proceeding in the case was conducted through video conferencing between the Sabarmati jail and the courtroom, as the movement of accused outside jail has been restricted due to security reasons under section 268 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
In the 2008 serial blasts case, charges have been framed against 67 accused, while over 30 others including Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, Amir Raza Khan and Adbus Subhan Tauqueer were still absconding.
