Srinagar, May 30, KDC: The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has flagged what it termed a “very striking aspect” in a 2019 terror case, noting that the FIR appears to have been registered 75 minutes before the alleged recovery of arms that forms the basis of the prosecution case.
Hearing a bail plea filed by accused Sabeel Ahmad Baba, a single bench of Justice Rahul Bharti observed that FIR No. 61/2019 was registered at Police Station Lakhanpur at 8.30 am on September 12, 2019, while the alleged commission of offences took place at 9.45 am when a truck was intercepted by police and arms were allegedly recovered from it.
“One very striking aspect of the case, from which this Court is not able to distance itself from taking serious cognizance,” the court, according to news agency Kashmir Dot Com, said, referring to the chronology reflected in the prosecution record.
According to the prosecution, truck JK-13E/2000, allegedly driven by Sabeel Ahmad Baba, was intercepted by police at Lakhanpur. During the search, police claimed to have recovered four AK-56 rifles, two AK-47 rifles and six loaded magazines containing 30 rounds each.
Besides Baba, two persons travelling in the truck, Ubaid-ul-Islam and Jahangir Ahmad Parray, were taken into custody. The investigation subsequently led to the inclusion of Bashir Ahmad Lone and Suhail Ahmad Dar as accused. Ashiq Ahmad Nengroo alias Ashiq Molvi was named as the sixth accused in the case.
The chargesheet filed in March 2020 accused six persons of offences under Sections 120-B and 201 of the Ranbir Penal Code, provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Arms Act.
The High Court also noted that the original FIR was not part of the final police report placed before the trial court.
Referring to a report received from the trial court, Justice Rahul Bharti recorded that while the original FIR had been submitted before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua, and later sought by the designated NIA court in Jammu, it was never received. Instead, a copy of the FIR was procured from the prosecution and annexed to the record.
Taking note of the missing FIR and other aspects of the investigation, the court directed the government to inform it whether the investigating officer, Dy SP Kamal Dev Bhagat, remains in service. The court said that if the officer is still serving, he shall appear in person on the next date of hearing.
The court also asked counsel for the petitioner to place on record a chronology of prosecution witnesses already examined and those yet to be examined.
Baba and two co-accused were arrested on September 12, 2019 and continue to remain in custody as undertrials while seeking bail.
The latest order follows proceedings earlier this month in which the High Court had taken note of the petitioner’s contention that the original FIR was missing from the trial record. After examining the scanned file requisitioned from the trial court, the court had observed that the record prima facie supported the submission and sought a report from the Special Judge under the NIA Act on whether the original FIR was available on the trial file. (KDC)
