Sandalwood drugs case: Special court rejects bail for 6 accused

BENGALURU: The Special Court for NDPS cases on Monday dismissed the bail petitions filed by six accused in the Sandalwood drugs case. Accused Prashanth Ranka, Niyas Mohammed, Vaibhav Jain alias Vaibhav Kumar and Pratheek, who have been arrested and are currently lodged at Bengaluru Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara, had filed bail applications before the Special Court. Two accused who are absconding, Abhiswamy and Prashanth Raju G, had filed for anticipatory bail. 

When the matter came up for hearing on September 30, the court reserved the order on these petitions and adjourned proceedings. When the petitions came up for hearing on Monday, the court dismissed all six petitions. While dismissing the petitions, the court observed that granting bail to the accused at this stage would hamper the ongoing probe and that the possibility of them tampering with evidence and threatening witnesses can not be ruled out. 

Meanwhile, the bail petition filed by Benald Udenna was adjourned till Wednesday. It may be recalled that the court had rejected bail to actresses Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, and Rahul Thonse in the case on September 28. The same day, the anticipatory bail plea filed by Shivaprakash, the prime accused, and Vinay Kumar, were also dismissed by the court. So far, the court has rejected bail to 11 people in the case.