CBI judge turns down Pillai’s bail plea

CHENNAI, MARCH 21: A special court trying CBI cases today dismissed a bail application by self proclaimed herbal petrol inventor Ramar Pil...

CHENNAI, MARCH 21: A special court trying CBI cases today dismissed a bail application by self proclaimed herbal petrol inventor Ramar Pillai on the ground that his release would hamper progress of CBI’s investigation into the case.

Dismissing the bail application, CBI Judge R Munirathnam accepted the CBI’s argument that its line of investigation was known to Pillai and in the event of his release he would disclose the same to the other conspirators.

The CBI, while opposing the bail, had also contended that if Pillai was released, other conspirators might make an attempt on his life in a bid to escape from the clutches of the law.

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The judge held that he was not inclined to grant bail at the present stage, considering the nature of the offence, the fact that the investigation was in progress and that a report filed by the prosecution claimed that the product manufactured by Pillai was only a mixture of benezene and toluene.

On March 11, the CBI had arrested Pillai, who had hit world headlines three years ago with his claim of having invented herb-based petrol, on the charge of cheating the public by selling a mixture of industrial chemicals, as motor fuel. He was remanded to police custody till March 16 by Munirathnam, who on March 15, remanded him to judicial custody till March 24.

The agency had alleged that Pillai was merely a benami’ for some important persons, manufacturing and selling the so called herbal petrol’.