Terror suspect DRDO scientist released on bail

A terror suspect, who allegedly conspired to kill prominent politicians and journalists in three states, was released on Tuesday night after a special court granted statutory bail since the National Investigation Agency failed to file charge sheet against him.

"Ejaz Ahmed Mirza, working in DRDO as scientist, was released from Parapanaagrahara Central Prison in Bangalore around 9 pm after the NIA court here granted statutory bail since the NIA failed to file charge sheet against him," Mohammed Sultan Beary, advocate representing the accused, told PTI.

The court on February 28 had ordered his release upon furnishing of two sureties for Rs 25,000 each and directed Mirza to surrender his passport.

However, the court on Monday directed Mirza's parents to furnish proper documents relating to sureties after it expressed dissatisfaction over them.

Other two terror suspects -- journalist Muthi-Ur-Rehman Siddiqui and Yusuf Nalband -- were released after the NIA court ordered their release on February 26. The court had observed that there was no prosecutable evidence against them.

So far, 15 people have been arrested in the case while the remaining 10 accused are absconding. Siddiqui and Nalband were among those arrested in August last year.

In its charge sheet filed in the special NIA court in Bangalore on February 20 against 12 of the 15 people, the National Investigation Agency had alleged that the accused had hatched a conspiracy to commit terror acts in the country by a Lashkar-e-Tayiba supported terror network based abroad and their associates in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The NIA, which took over investigation in November last year, had stated that charges against Siddiqui and Nalband were being dropped for lack of evidence.

Mirza told PTI that he was grateful to the Allah and expressed confidence in Indian judiciary. "Mujhe vishwas hain ki Allah aur merey watan ki adaalat doodh kaa doodh aur paani kaa paani karegi aur Inshah Allah aur bhi merey saathiya 'gunah' se barkaraar ho jaiyenge (I am confident that the Almighty and the Indian judiciary will absolve all the so-called terror suspects of their charges and the truth will emerge)," he said.