Email threat: Modi pardons but govt lawyer says I don’t know, bail denied

A day after Gujarat police said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had pardoned and ordered withdrawal of the case against Omar Farooq Siddqu...

A day after Gujarat police said that Chief Minister Narendra Modi had pardoned and ordered withdrawal of the case against Omar Farooq Siddqui, a Delhi business executive who had sent him an e-mail threat, a Gandhinagar court today rejected Omar’s bail application after the public prosecutor said he had “no official letter” about the decision.

Police yesterday said that Omar, arrested by Gujarat’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from his South Delhi home on January 26, had told them he wrote the mail in “anger” in response to an e-mail invitation for the Vibrant Gujarat kite festival from the state tourism department.

Gujarat Intelligence Bureau chief J Mahapatra had even quoted Modi as saying: “He (Omar) is a young, well-educated professional with a bright future ahead. The hate mail was an outcome of his irritation and anger.’’

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But defence counsel M Laliwala, who appeared on Omar’s behalf today, said: “The public prosecutor in this case had no official word regarding the Chief Minister’s pardon. The court, therefore, went by the merit of the case and stated that the accused was an outsider and the case against him was a serious one.”

The court ordered the public prosecutor to produce the letter before seeking bail in the matter.

ATS chief D G Vanzara said: “The three days police remand got over today. We produced him before the court. The court sent Omar to judicial custody. His bail plea was rejected as we submitted the investigation report to the government through a proper channel and are now awaiting the letter for the withdrawal of the case from the CMO.”

“The public prosecutor will be handed the official letter and Omar’s bail plea will be moved again before the court tomorrow,” Vanzara added. Omar’s father Irfan too had been taken to Ahmedabad for questioning.

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