Patna: A division bench of Patna High Court comprising Justice Ashwini Kumar Singh and Justice PB Bajanthri rejected the bail application of Gajendra Sharma, an accused charged with conspiring to blow up railway tracks in the Ghorasahan terror case by National Investigation Agency (NIA). The court also directed the trial court to complete the trial in the case on a day-to-day basis and within one year.
NIA special public prosecutor, Chhaya Mishra, while arguing against the bail, told the bench that the witnesses were still being examined and if the accused was granted bail at this stage, he might influence the witnesses.
Opposing the bail petition, Mishra said delay in examination of witnesses was affected adversely due to COVID-19. Since the functioning of courts are stabilized now, the remaining witnesses on behalf of the prosecution will be examined expeditiously. She told the court that NIA would make all endeavours to examine all witnesses in next nine months.
NIA had submitted list of 138 witnesses and till date,33 have been examined. The accused was arrested on February 16,2017.
The Ghorasahan IED case
An IED was discovered from the rail track at Ghorasahan and defused on October 1, 2016, as per an India Today report. The Bihar Police had arrested three persons who claimed to have planted explosives at rail track. One of the three suspects is also claimed to have travelled to Kanpur at the behest of ISI to cause derailment which claimed 150 lives. On November 20, 2016, the Indore-Patna Express 19321, a scheduled train from Indore to Patna, had derailed near Pukhrayan. Police stumbled on the racket while investigating the murder of two Raxaul residents in Nepal.
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