No evidence of Baig meeting Bhatkal, Choudhary in Udgir: ACP

During his cross-examination in the German Bakery blast trial on Wednesday, assistant commissioner of police Vinod Satav admitted before the court that they do not have any evidence or witness for the alleged meeting between Himayat Baig, the only suspect arrested in this case, and terror operatives Yasin Bhatkal and Mohsin Choudhary at the Global Internet Cafe in Udgir, where the blast conspiracy was allegedly hatched in January 2010.

Satav also admitted that the ATS team did not visit Colombo where Baig was allegedly given training by LeT operatives Fayyaz Kagzi and Zabiuddin Ansari in March 2008.

Defence lawyers A Rehman, Kaynath Shaikh and Basheer Ali Sayyad cross examined Satav for over six hours before the court of additional sessions judge N P Dhote.

Satav, who is now attached to the Crime Branch of city police, was posted at the ATS when the blast took place on February 13, 2010. Satav is the last among the 103 witnesses examined by the prosecution.

The defence lawyers told the court that the ATS did not take any prior permission from the Central government, which was necessary for the trial of an Indian citizen who commits an offence in a foreign country. The chargesheet submitted by the ATS in the Bakery blast says that Baig had gone to Colombo in March 2008, where he was trained in terror acts by alleged LeT operatives Kagzi and Ansari and there "the diabolic design to cause further terrorist activities was finalised".

However, the Maharashtra ATS did not take permission from the Central government, claimed the defence lawyers. To this, Satav said they had taken permission from the state and had also written to the Interpol about the case. Defence counsel said the ATS did not mention in the chargesheet whether they got any reply or not from the Interpol.

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