Ajmer blast accused files plea against narco test

Devendra Gupta, arrested in connection with the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast and suspected to have links with a Hindu militant outfit, filed a revision petition in an Ajmer court on Thursday against the proposed narco and brain mapping tests on him by Rajasthan ATS.

The petition comes a day after the Supreme Court had ruled as illegal compulsory use of narco-analysis, brain-mapping and polygraph tests, saying such techniques amount to cruel and degrading treatment and unwarranted intrusion into personal liberty. The Session Court will hear the petition on Friday.

Gupta has claimed in his revision petition that ATS has not taken his consent for conducting the tests. Gupta, a resident of Bihari Ganj in Ajmer, was arrested by the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on April 29 when he had gone to meet his ailing mother, ATS officials said. He was later produced before the Ajmer Chief Judicial Magistrate who remanded him in police custody till May 12.

Ajmer Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate granted permission to the ATS to carry out the test after it had moved an application in this regard on May 1.