Court rejects YC leader’s bail plea

Thiruvananthapuram: A judicial first class magistrate court here has rejected the bail application moved by Youth Congress leader Jithin V, who was arrested by the crime branch for allegedly hurling explosives at AKG Centre.
The prosecution pleaded before the court that the accused is not cooperating with the investigation and there are more people involved in the case. Granting him bail will help others escape as the attack was part of a conspiracy. The accused may influence the witnesses in the case and tamper with evidence, the prosecution said.
The prosecution further stated that chemical examination revealed that the material thrown at the AKG Centre was a bomb and the accused used explosives prepared out of potassium chloride, which is a banned chemical, for making the bomb. It was the reason why additional charges were slapped on him under the Explosives Act.
The court concurred with the view and also observed that the Explosives Act makes the case even more serious and also rejected the view of defence counsel that CCTV footages and phone call details cannot be considered as evidence. The defence counsel asked why the face of the accused was not visible in as many as 150 CCTV footages and why the 40 police officers who were on duty during the incident had not seen him.
Jithin did not have the power to destroy evidence or influence the witnesses, the defence counsel said. The prosecution contested these arguments by stating that highly influential people are behind him and granting bail will affect the case badly. It further informed the court of his criminal antecedents. Jithin was the Attipra mandalam president of Youth Congress and the crime branch arrested him on September 22.
The attack on AKG Centre took place on June 30 but lack of clarity in CCTV footage made it difficult for the police to identify the accused. Following this, the crime branch took over the probe.
The bail plea was considered by the court on Tuesday and its verdict was reserved for Thursday. The prosecution could submit the shoes purportedly worn by Jithin during the attack but failed to produce the dress and also the vehicle in which he came for the attack.