HC grants bail to accused in Aurangabad arms haul case

The Bombay High court today granted bail to Javed Ahmed Abdul Majid, an accused in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.
The order was orally pronounced by Justice Abhay Thipsay in the conference hall of the high court in Mumbai through video conference from Aurangabad bench of the Court where the Judge is currently posted.
Javed was ordered to be released with a surety of Rs 50,000 and also asked to attend the ongoing trial in the special court.
The Judge, however, warned Javed not to contact any witness in the case and also asked him not to tamper with witnesses or impede the trial.

According to the prosecution, Javed had allegedly helped co-accused in parking the vehicles which were carrying the arms and ammunition. Thus, he was accused of conspiracy.
The matter was earlier argued before Justice Thipsay when he was posted in Mumbai. Later, the Judge was transferred to Aurangabad, following which the order was delivered through video conferencing today.

Javed's bail application was moved by the lawyers of Jamiat-Ulama-e-Maharashtra (Arshad Madani), an NGO which provides free legal aid to youths arrested on the charges of terrorism.
A battery of defence lawyers, comprising Advocates Yug Chaudhary, Sharif Shaikh, Ansar Tamboli, Shahid Nadeem Ansari and Mateen Shaikh, appeared for the accused.

In May 2006, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) booked 21 accused, including Abu Jundal, under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), for carrying huge quantity of explosives and arms.
The ATS claimed to have seized 43kg of RDX, 50 hand grenades, 16 AK-47 rifles and over 3,000 live bullets from two cars on the Chandaud-Manmad Highway in Aurangabad.
It claimed the car, which was allegedly driven by Abu Jundal, could not be intercepted at that time.