Attack by Nalapad an act of terrorism and barbarism: Prosecution

Bengaluru, Feb 29: While arguing against the bail of Mohammed Nalapad, the prime accused in Bengaluru’s UB City cafe assault case, at the City Civil and Sessions court on Monday Special Public Prosecutor Shyam Sundar, termed the attack on Vidvat “an act of terrorism and barbarism, which had created a fear psychosis among the people”.

He said granting bail to the accused would hamper the investigations. He recalled that the the accused, after assaulting Vidvat in the cafe, followed him to the hospital and attacked him again. “The very act shows influential people showing power over the defenceless and common people,” Mr. Sundar said, adding that the victim, his family, and the witnesses in the case would be pressurised and threatened if bail is granted.

The investigation is in progress and the police are yet to record Vidvat’s statement, and granting bail would hamper further investigations, he said.

“The attack was on a person who could not offer resistance, and was almost beaten to death. The attack was unprovoked and brutal in nature and granting bail would set a bad example to society,” Mr. Sundar added.

Tomy Sebastian, the advocate representing Mohammed Nalapad, sought Vidvat’s medical report to ascertain nature of injuries. “The incident is hyped as the family of the victim in the case is highly influential. The accused does not have any record of criminal history. The attack was not intentional and the assault was on the spur of the moment. Moreover, the accused in the case surrendered before the police. There is also a counter-complaint by one of the accused in the case,” Mr. Sebastian said.

Objecting to this, the prosecution said that the counter-complaint filed by the accused was to hamper investigations.

The prosecution also said there was no mention of Mohammed Nalapad in the complaint, though CCTV footage from the hospital clearly shows him attacking Vidvat. Also, the time mentioned in the counter-complaint of the accused — 12 a.m. — cannot be true as the victim was in hospital at the time, as per medical records, said Mr. Sundar.

Meanwhile, continuing investigations, officials of the CCB visited the cafe and questioned staff members. The police have also recovered CCTV footages from the cafe. However, CCB officials could not record the statement of Vidvat as he was not been able to speak properly, a senior police officer said.

Assuring a fair probe in the assault, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday said that he will direct the police to probe alleged possession of half a dozen firearms by Mohammed Nalapad. The Home Minister told presspersons here that it had come to his notice that the accused had boasted about firearms in social media platforms. “His father has a firearm licence. However, during the search by the police on his residence no such firearms were recovered. I will ask the police to look into it again.”

To a question on why rowdy sheet was not being raised against him, Mr. Reddy said: “The police commissioner will have to decide on that issue.” He also acknowledged that the accused had been involved in three to four incidents earlier, but there were no complaints in those cases. “To some degree, this incident has damaged government (reputation) and it has also caused embarrassment,” he added.