Kerala court defers bail pleas of nine people in ED officials attack case
The Thiruvananthapuram District and Sessions Court has adjourned the hearing on the bail applications of nine accused in the alleged attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED)
The Thiruvananthapuram District and Sessions Court has adjourned the hearing on the bail applications of nine accused in the alleged attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials during a raid at the Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence to July 20. The ED has strongly opposed the bail pleas and maintained that granting bail at the present stage could adversely affect the ongoing investigation.
The agency submitted that the probe is still under way, including efforts to uncover the alleged larger conspiracy behind the attack, and contended that releasing the accused could hamper the investigation. The prosecution also urged the court to examine the video footage of the alleged attack before deciding on the bail applications.
According to the prosecution, the scrutiny of the visuals would help establish the roles played by each accused, and only thereafter should the court decide on the bail requests. The prosecution had made a similar request during the
hearing of the previous batch of bail applications. At that time, the court accepted the request, reviewed the footage, and subsequently rejected the bail applications of 10 Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] workers accused in the case.
The BriefWire