A lawyer appearing for Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal in various terror related cases in courts here has claimed that he has been threatened by underworld don Ravi Pujari not to represent the terrorist.
Advocate M S Khan, representing Bhatkal and his close aide Asadullah Akhtar in courts here, has also written letters to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and the Delhi Police Commissioner regarding the alleged threat from Pujari.
"Defending an accused of any nature of crime is not a sin, rather it is a right available to the lawyer as well as the accused and such kind of activities are not only discouraging but the same also amount to direct interference in the process of administration of justice.
"I am just exercising my lawful profession," he said in a letter sent to Chief Justice.
In the letter, the advocate urged the Chief Justice to direct appropriate action on the issue.
Khan, who is also defending top Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda and extradited gangster Abu Salem in courts here, said he had received a call on January 16 from a person who identified himself as Ravi Pujari. The caller referred to murders of three others, including an accused in the German Bakery blast case and two advocates.
He also said that after the call, he received an SMS allegedly from Pujari in which the gangster threatened that he would kill one of his family members.
On January 17, the advocate received another SMS in which he was threatened allegedly by Pujari to withdraw from Bhatkal's case.
"I have received these calls from international numbers and the caller identified himself as don Ravi Pujari. I have written letters to the Chief Justice and Police commissioner but till date, I have not received any response. There is an apprehension that some untoward incident might take place with me or my family," Khan told PTI.
30-year-old Bhatkal was arrested by the NIA from the Indo-Nepal border on the night of August 28 last year and he is alleged to be involved in a string of terror attacks in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad and other parts of India.
