Cops re-arrest 21 Best accused

Thirteen of the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case on Thursday surrendered before the police. They were later produced before the fast track...

Thirteen of the 21 accused in the Best Bakery case on Thursday surrendered before the police. They were later produced before the fast track court of Additional Sessions Judge H.U. Mahida, who granted them bail.

This was the same court that had acquitted all of them in June this year, citing lack of evidence after most of the witnesses turned hostile during the trial. The 13 accused, all residents of Hanuman Takri locality on Dabhoi Road, presented themselves before Panigate police station. Accompanied by advocates, the accused stood outside the police station, while the police carried out the paperwork before sending them to the Nyaymandir courts.

Two cops to monitor cases

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat govt on Thursday appointed two senior police officers to monitor the progress of four major post-Godhra riot cases. IG (Vadodara Range) Rakesh Asthana will monitor the Best Bakery and Sardarpura cases while JCP (Crime, Ahmedabad) P. P. Pandey will monitor the Naroda-Patiya and Gulbarg Society cases. Meanwhile, Vadodara police submitted an affidavit in Gujarat High Court outlining the steps it had taken to provide protection to eyewitnesses in the Best Bakery case. Also, the five witnesses who had refused security were told to get in touch with the police if they felt insecure. (ENS)

Story continues below this ad

Of the remaining eight, police said, three were in New Delhi, three in Ahmedabad and whereabouts of two were not known. Interestingly, some of the accused said that they were yet to receive the summons while others claimed that they would surrender before the police in a day or two.

In a related development, at least three relatives of the accused on Thursday left for New Delhi, ostensibly to make a representation before the Supreme Court. Of the three, one is witness Bharat Thakker, whose younger brother Sanjay Thakker is an accused. According to Thakker’s counsel, Sanjay was wrongly implicated despite the fact that his elder brother was the first to inform police and Congress councillor Chandrakant Srivastava about the incident.

For Kolkata, the IMD has forecast mostly cloudy skies with light to moderate rain or thundershowers on most days through Panchami.

Unprecedented rain submerges Kolkata amidst Durga Puja preparations; train services hit

Cities3 min ago

At least two people were killed as Kolkata woke up to an inundated city on Tuesday morning after heavy overnight rainfall flooded streets, railway tracks, and Metro tracks. The downpour, which began late Monday night and continued past midnight, led to severe waterlogging across major arterial roads and residential areas, paralysing normal life.

View all shorts

Live Blog