RED FORT ATTACK SUSPECT GRANTED BAIL

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bilal Ahmed Kawa, an LeT suspect arrested in the 2000 Red Fort attack case, noting that except one, all other co- accused have either been acquitted or discharged.

Additional sessions judge Sidharth Sharma noted that the other accused acquitted or discharged by the trial court and the Delhi high court, were facing more serious charges than Kawa. The court granted the relief to Kawa on furnishing of a personal bond of ` 50,000 and a surety of the same amount, and directed him not to hamper the probe.

The court granted the relief to Kawa on furnishing of a personal bond of ` 50,000 and a surety of the same amount and directed him not to hamper the probe. Kawa was arrested from Terminal- 3 of the Delhi airport on January 10 during a joint operation by the Delhi Police and the Gujarat AntiTerrorism Squad ( ATS), and currently was in judicial custody.

In his bail plea, Kawa had claimed that no purpose would be served by keeping him in custody further. The police have alleged that Kawa had received ` 29.5 lakh from Pakistan to fund the terror attack on the historic Red Fort on December 22, 2000, in which three people, including two Army jawans, were killed. They told the court that Kawa, one of the conspirators in the attack, was absconding for 17 years.

While Kawa was on the run, a trial court in October 2005 had awarded death sentence to terrorist Mohammad Arif.