Madani’s custody in Bangalore takes political colour

The under-trial custody of People's Democratic Party chief Abdul Nasser Madani in a Bangalore prison for the last 28 months has again come up as a political issue. On Monday, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told the Assembly it was an issue of human rights violation.

Madani was among the 31 persons chargesheeted for the 2008 Bangalore blast which killed one person and injured 20. He was arrested in August 2010 by the Karnataka police on charges of conspiracy and sheltering some of the key accused after the blasts.

Now, Kerala plans to send a delegation to Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to intervene on behalf of the 46-year-old leader, who suffers from various ailments.The move comes after the Karnataka High Court, on November 22, rejected his bail plea. The Supreme Court too had on January 3 rejected his bail plea. The court also said no to his plea to be allowed to go to Kerala to undergo treatment.

However, in Kerala, under fire from other Muslim outfits, UDF partner IUML brought the matter to political debate. Earlier this month, it urged Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to intervene in the case. Last week, the CPM too joined the issue. Its state secretariat said Madani has the right to get bail and better treatment.

Earlier, while Madani was in a Tamil Nadu jail for nine-and-a-half years — in connection with the 1998 Coimbatore blast case — the Kerala assembly had in 2006 passed a resolution seeking justice for him. He was exonerated by the courts and released in 2007.

However, in the Bangalore blast case, the Karnataka police have so far placed details of telephone contacts between Madani and some of the main accused in the blasts case like LeT operative Tadiyandavede Nasir, both before and after the blasts. The trial of the case is currently on in a special court.

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