The High Court of Karnataka has refused to grant bail to Imran Ahmed, president of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), K.G. Halli ward, in one of the cases taken up by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) into the large-scale violence in D.J. Halli-K.G. Halli localities in Bengaluru on August 11, 2020.
“The acts committed by the accused along with other accused persons on August 11, 2020, as stated in the charge sheet, discloses the conspiracy to commit acts of violence, destruction of public properties, and to create a fear psychosis in the mind of law-abiding citizens… By his activity, the accused has attempted to create fear and panic amongst the public in general,” the court observed.
A division bench comprising Justice Alok Aradhe and Anant Ramanath Hegde passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by 38-year-old Imran Ahmed alias Imran Khan, who was arrested in August 2021. He has been accused of rioting and arson in front of K.G. Halli police station and setting some parked vehicles on fire using petrol.
“Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 would take within its view the persons who abet, incite, knowingly facilitate the commission of terrorist act. Section 15 of the Act provides that usage of inflammable substance to cause injuries to a person or damage property with an intention to strike terror amounts to a terrorist act. From the chargesheet, it is evident that petrol was used while attacking police personnel and damaging public property,” the bench observed.
The court also said that the accused, being president of SDPI, K.G. Halli ward, “the possibility of interfering with a fair trial by influencing or threatening witnesses cannot be ruled out”.