Jama Masjid blast: 3 IM men move court for bail

Three suspected operatives of banned Indian Mujahideen (IM), arrested for allegedly supplying explosives used for carrying out a blast near Jama Masjid here in September 2010, today approached a Delhi court seeking bail.
In their bail application, Syed Ismail Afaaque, Abdus Saboor and Riyaz Ahmed Sayeedi said they be granted the relief as they were not required for further probe as the charge sheet has already been filed in the case.
The court has fixed May 30 for hearing arguments on the application which claimed the accused persons were innocent and had not committed any offence.
The accused claimed in their plea "it is an admitted case of the prosecution that during investigation, no material/ evidence was found by the police qua the applicants."

"Even in the disclosure statements of co-accused, there is no reference of the applicants and the only material against them is the disclosure statements of the applicants-accused which is not admissible in evidence," the application said.
It further submitted that "the applicants are permanent residents of Bhatkal in Karnataka, and having roots in the society and there is no chance of their absconding or tempering with the prosecution witnesses."

Special Cell of Delhi Police filed its supplementary charge sheet in January against the accused for the alleged offences under IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act, Information Technology Act and Arms Act.

The case pertains to the explosion of the bomb fitted in a car near the historic mosque on September 19, 2010 soon after two suspected IM operatives had fired at a bus from which foreign tourists were descending near a gate of the mosque.
The three accused were arrested last year in connection with the case.
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In its charge sheet, police alleged that Affaque, an Ayurvedic doctor by profession, had met IM co-founders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal and gone to Pakistan where he was trained in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
In early 2010, Affaque was instructed by Riyaz to receive a consignment of explosive containing gelatin sticks and detonators from Sayeedi, it alleged.

Regarding Saboor, the police claimed he had received explosives from Affaque and delivered them to a person in Mangaluru.
"Investigation has also revealed that explosive was also provided by A-1 (Affaque) on the instructions of Riyaz Bhatkal and Afeef (another IM operative) in 2011 which was used in 2011 Mumbai blast, 2012 Pune blast and 2013 Hyderabad blast," the charge sheet said.
The police had earlier named 11 other suspected IM members, including its arrested co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, in its charge sheet in connection with the blast case.
It had earlier said these IM operatives had carried out the strike to dissuade foreign nations from participating in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

In its charge sheet filed against the three accused, the police said they had conspired with other IM members to carry out a terror strike in Delhi.
The police had earlier said IM operatives had planned that foreign tourists found near Jama Masjid would be randomly shot and a bomb blast would be executed there for maximum casualty.
It had claimed that Yasin Bhatkal had prepared a pressure cooker IED, which was planted in the car parked outside the mosque and the explosion had taken place.