Mumbai: Court denies bail to accused in murder case

A court in Mumbai has denied bail to an accused in the 2021 murder of a student citing that a police investigation was still underway to recover the victims body reported news agency PTIAdditional sessions judge Priya Bankar on October 3 denied bail to Abdul Ansari who was arrested under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code for murder and destruction of evidence reported PTIThe police arrested Ansari along with the main accused Mithu Singh in connection with the students death reported PTIAccording to the police the victim was travelling on a train to appear for an exam on November 29 2021 but she instead alighted at Bandra railway stationShe did not appear for the examination and was last seen in the Bandra Bandstand area they saidWhen the woman did not return home and could not be contacted on her mobile phone her parents reported her missing at the concerned police station reported PTIA probe revealed that the victim was seen at Bandra Bandstand where she met Singh and clicked a selfie with him the police said reported PTIInvestigations revealed that there were telephonic conversations between Singh and Ansari where the latter used some objectionable language and asked Singh to have fun with the woman it said reported PTIThe police have alleged that Ansari knew why Singh took the victim to the area and investigations have revealed that he knew about the murder Singh had committed and how he disposed of the body reported PTIAdditional public prosecutor Ashwini Raykar opposed Ansaris bail plea claiming that the witnesses in the case were his coworkers and were known to himHence there is a possibility that if Ansari is released on bail he will pressurise and threaten prosecution witnesses she addedAnsari however stated that the allegations indicate Singhs involvement in the crime reported PTIThere is nothing on record to show that Ansari helped in the disposal of the victims body his lawyer Harshman Chavan argued reported PTIThe court after hearing both sides noted that the fact that an investigation is still going on for the recovery of the womans body cannot be ignored reported PTIThe allegations show the accused knows how the dead body was disposed of So looking at the same the apprehension of the prosecution in this regard is not baseless it saidThe court said that the allegations against the accused were serious in nature and after a detailed investigation into the crime the police arrested them reported PTIThere is prima facie evidence about the involvement of the accused in the crime Further the apprehension of the prosecution that the accused will tamper with its witnesses and evidence also cannot be ruled out the court said while rejecting the bail plea reported PTIWith inputs from PTI