LeT bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda withdraws bail plea

Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda, one of the 20 terrorists India had asked Pakistan to hand over after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, on Friday withdrew his bail petition filed before a Delhi court.

Seventy-two-year-old Tunda, who is in judicial custody in connection with various terror attack cases, withdrew his plea after Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Bansal transferred his case to a sessions court.

As the case was sent to a sessions court, advocate M S Khan, who appeared for Tunda, withdrew his bail plea with a liberty to file it before the sessions judge.

Tunda had on December 17 moved a bail plea in connection with the 1997 Sadar Bazar blasts case in which a charge sheet was filed against him by the special cell of the Delhi police.

The police had opposed his bail plea, saying Tunda was involved in various terror attack cases and he was a "desperate terrorist who washed out the brains of youngsters who became hardcore terrorists and committed many bomb blasts in India in the name of jehad".

The special cell had also said that "strong evidences" against Tunda were yet to be collected from other probe agencies. Meanwhile, the case was transferred to a sessions court as the offences for which Tunda has been charge-sheeted are triable exclusively by a sessions judge.

Tunda, in his bail application, had said he has been charge-sheeted by the police only on the basis of "disclosure statements" made by two accused persons who were arrested earlier in connection with the case.

He was chargesheeted for offences under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and the police had claimed he was part of the conspiracy which led to two bomb blasts, one in Sadar Bazar and other in Qutab Road, on October 1, 1997 in which several people were injured.

Earlier, two persons -- Mohd Shakil alias Hamza and Mohd Amir -- were arrested in the case but Shakil was discharged by the court on April 17, 1999 while Amir was acquitted in the case on April 26, 2001.

The police, in its charge sheet, had claimed that during the investigation, Shakil and Amir had disclosed that the bomb blasts were carried out at the behest of Tunda.

It had alleged that Tunda, arrested from Indo-Nepal border on August 16, this year, was interrogated after his arrest and he had told investigators that he was involved in the conspiracy which led to these two blasts.

He is suspected to be involved in 40 bombings in India.