Charges framed against Yasin Bhatkal in German Bakery Case

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The special judge K D Vadane from Pune on Monday filed charges against the key suspect and the alleged founder of Indian Mujahideen Yasin Bhatkal terrorist group involved in the German Bakery blast case which took place in 2010.

Yasin Bhatkal alias Mohammad Ahmad Mohammad Jarar Siddibappa is from Bhatkal village in Karnataka. He has been convicted to the capital punishment by the Hyderabad court in the 2010 blast case and is currently serving his time in Tihar Jail in New Delhi. While the Delhi police submitted a report to the court, they requested to conduct the trail via video conferring.

Bhatkal was brought to Pune on Sunday from Tihar jail and on Monday around 11.20 am he was produced in the court proceeded by judge Wadane. The accused was involved in a blast that took place on February 13, 2010 around 7.15 pm where a mobile phone alarm was used to set the time of the explosion which had devastated the popular German Bakery situated in the upmarket Koregaon Park area killing 17 people including five foreign nationals - an Italian, Iranian and two Sudanese and 63 injured people.

The charge sheet filed against the accused contains details of the financial transactions made by the sole convicted suspect Himayat Baig along with six others including Mohammed Bhatkal, who hails from Karnataka and Mohsin Chowdhary, a resident of Pune.

Bhatkal has been booked under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code comprises of murder, attempt to murder, assault, trespass, criminal conspiracy and also found guilty under the Indian Explosives Substances Act and also Unlawful Activities. The assistant commissioner of Delhi police, Vireshwar Malik had moved the application to the court requesting saying, "Considering his antecedents is of paramount, the risk to transport him all the way from New Delhi to Pune to produce him before the court, there is every apprehension of his own terrorist group or his anti-group or any other fundamentalist attacking him."

"Immense manpower of local police, special forces, and the public fund are spent in transit of the suspect hence we genuinely request the court to allow the accused to be produced via video-conference," he added. According to Bhatkal's lawyer, Zaheerkhan Pathan, "We will be opposing the trial via video-conference. As his presence is essential in the case." Judge Wadane adjourned the trial till June 15, 2019, on which the decision on video conferences will be decided.

ATS filed a charge sheet against the accused stating, "The accused Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal and the arrested accused Himayat Baig traveled from Poolgate bus stand to Pune railway station in a rickshaw and took another rickshaw from Pune railway station to central mall. Ahmed Siddibappa proceeded to the German Bakery at approximately 5 pm and planted the bomb which was kept in a haversack. The bomb subsequently exploded at 6.50 pm killing 17 people and injuring 56."

The complaint was registered with the Bund garden police by the bakery cashier Praveen Pant and a case was registered against the accused. The ATS held Indian Mujahideen along with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba responsible for the blast. An ATS officer said, "Yasin's arrest has helped the state to take the German Bakery blast case to its logical conclusion. He was seen in the CCTV footage obtained from the German Bakery leaving the bag containing the bomb and was wanted ever since. It was only after the German Bakery CCTV footage that the police was able to identify Yasin Bhatkal."

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