Bengaluru: In a huge blow to Mohammed Nalapad Haris and his six-member gang who have been incarcerated in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison following the brutal attack on 24-year-old Vidwath at an upmarket mall in the city last week, the Court yesterday adjourned the bail plea to Tuesday (Feb. 27), and ensured that they will spend some more time behind bars.

B. Parameshwara Prasanna, Judge of 63rd City Civil and Session Court heard the arguments of M.S. Shyam Sundar, Special Public Prosecutor and Tommy Sebastian, defence counsel appearing for Nalapad and adjourned the plea. As soon as the Judge pronounced the order, Nalapad, who is used to lead a luxurious and lavish life, was in tears.

Ahead of the bail plea hearing of Nalapad, his friends Balakrishna, Manjunath, Abhishek and Arun Babu offered puja at the prison. They prayed before the Ganesha temple inside the jail compound.

Tommy Sebastian, defence counsel, strongly argued for bail to be granted to Nalapad and his co-accused, saying “it is a simple case of a scuffle, a ‘free fight’ which barely lasted for few minutes, there is no evidence to prove there was any attempt to murder Vidwath.”

He said that the victim Vidwath was in fact recovering well at the hospital and had been shifted out of ICU. He also accused the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) of preventing Vidwath from recording his statement before the Police and demanded that the medical reports on the condition of Vidwath’s health be submitted before the Court.

“While the SPP is projecting the father of the accused N.A. Haris as politically strong, in reality, it is Vidwath’s father, an industrialist who is far more powerful and who is influencing the investigation at every level”, the defence counsel stated, adding that “within 24 hours of the brawl, an Inspector of the Cubbon Park Police Station was transferred and subsequently, an SPP was appointed within a week which is unheard of.”

SPP Shyam Sundar, who objected to the claims made by the defence counsel, submitted 19 pages of supplementary objections, pleading that bail should not be granted.

Equating the heinous assault with the Nirbhaya tragedy, he said the accused should not be granted bail. There is evidence to prove that the accused tried to kill Vidwath by brutally assaulting him with knuckle rings, bottles and jugs.