Ajmer blast accused to remain in Jaipur till Oct 3; court defers decision

The special court for NIA cases has reserved its decision on transferring Ajmer Dargah blast accused Bhavesh Patel from Jaipur jail till October 3. Till then, he would remain in Central Jail, Jaipur. Bhavesh Patel was produced in the court pursuant to his application accusing Sushilkumar Shinde, Digvijaya Singh and others for pressurising him to name RSS leaders.

Patel, in his letter, had said that he was introduced to Digvijaya by Acharya Pramod Krishnan of Moradabad in his ashram in November 2012. “I told him about my case. Digvijaya told me not to worry and do as he says.”

To a question by the special judge for NIA cases about his letter, Patel told the court that he is being pressurised and despite the court’s order to lodge him at Central Jail in Jaipur, he was forcibly moved to Alwar Central Jail where under instructions from ‘higher-ups’ he was forced to stick to his statement under section 164 CrPC made before the magistrate.

The NIA counsel were unable to reply to the query made by the court about the provision of law under which Patel was transferred from Jaipur to Alwar despite court’s specific orders.

On the contrary, counsel for Bhavesh Patel produced in the court the  copy of notings of NIA wherein it was given out that the transfer of inmate was made under the oral orders received from DGP NIA.

“I was forced to wrongly implicate and clarify the role of co-accused Suresh Nayar, Mukesh Vasandi and Mafat alias Mehul in bomb blast. I am being pressurised and illegally interrogated by NIA officials and made to talk to senior officers in the investigating agency,” he said.

“Terms are being dictated to me. My family members are not being allowed to see me. In fact, my lawyer has also been engaged by the NIA and I wish to discontinue his services as I have engaged my own lawyers now,” said Patel.

The accused also told that court that he has been interrogated more than 19 times in Central Jail in Alwar without seeking prior permission of the court and when he started a hunger strike, he was kept in solitary confinement in hospital.

After the contentions of the accused and the documents produced by him, the special judge said he would pass an appropriate order on October 3 at where the accused would be kept in judicial custody.