July 26, 2009 2:19:56 am
In a blow to the Pune police,the Supreme Court on Friday granted anticipatory bail to builder Sudheer Karnataki,a co-accused in the Yeshwant Natu land grabbing case.
Karnataki had moved the SC,after his application for anticipatory bail was rejected by the Bombay High Court and Session court in Pune.
Yeshwant Natu had lodged a complaint with the Khadak police station that the main accused Deepak Mankar had forced him and his family to sell their property in Shukrawar Peth to Karnataki for Rs 1.25 crore in March 2008.
The crime branch team,which later took over the investigation of the case,found out from Karnartakis bank records that he had given Rs 25 lakh to Mankar and another accused Sadhana Vartak after Natu signed the land deal.
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While Mankar,Vartak and other suspects surrendered before the police,Karnataki was at large. While the police had launched a search for Karnataki,he filed an application for anticipatory bail at the SC. A bench of justice Markandey Katju and justice Asok Kumar Ganguly granted him bail on Friday.
Prosecution counsel Sanjay Kharde has sought time from the court for filing the reply. The SC has given four weeks time for filing the counter reply.
On July 22,the judicial magistrate (First Class) Kanta P R Singh Rathore of the Pune court had issued notice to Karnataki,asking him to surrender before the Pune police before August 25. The SC granted him bail and directed him to co-operate with the investigation.
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