COURTS REJECTS ATS PLEA TO EXTEND CUSTODY OF 3 ACCUSED

MUMBAI: The special court under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on Friday rejected the anti-terrorism squad (ATS)’S plea to extend custody of the three accused in Gauri Lankesh murder case who were booked in connection with the Nallasopara arms haul case. The ATS sought extension of Amol Kale, 34, Amit Baddi, 27 and Ganesh Miskin, 28 for investigation regarding who financed them. They were remanded to judicial custody.

Chief public prosecutor Jaysingh Desai contended that Kale is the group’s key conspirator and is involved in procuring arms and ammunitions from Madhya Pradesh. “Kale is unemployed and he has no source of income. We need to check where he got funds from,” Desai argued.

The prosecution added the accused are not cooperating with the investigation. They said they are yet to take handwriting samples of the accused to match it with the notes found from them.

Defense lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar objected to ATS’S demand, asking how the handwriting sample have not been taken yet even as the accused are in custody since May. “It is clear that all agencies are coordinating with each other. How is it that they have not interrogated the accused regarding finance and other aspects of the case?” Punalekar argued. The court observed that ATS has not submitted any new ground for extension of the custody of the accused.