Mumbai blast accused gets bail after 12 years

Twelve years after Sahid Khalil Ansari was arrested on charges of triggering a blast at Jumma Masjid in Mumbai, the Bombay high court has granted him bail on ground that the co-accused was enlarged and his appeal against conviction may take some time to come up for final hearing.

The bail was granted recently by a bench headed by Justice Ajay Khanvilkar who held that Sahid was similarly placed as co-accused Mohammed Yakub Abdul Majid, who was also enlarged in the same case.

Defence lawyer Amin Solkar said Sahid was accused on the basis of a sole eyewitness who had seen him and another accused coming out of the masjid after the blast on August 28, 1997. He said Sahid could not get an opportunity to cross-examine this witness during the trial.

However, the bench said it would grant bail to Sahid on the ground of parity, as co-accused Mohammed Majid had also been enlarged. Also, it said that Sahid's appeal is expected to take some time to be decided. Accordingly, Sahid was released on a bail amount of Rs 15,000 with one solvent surety for the same amount. He was also asked to report to the nearest police station at Vakola every morning until his appeal came up for hearing.

The court, however, warned that if he failed to report to the police station on more than two occasions for any reason whatsoever, then his bail shall be cancelled. Shahid was also directed not to leave the limits of the city without the permission of the court until his appeal was decided.