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The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has moved the Kerala High Court seeking the cancellation of bail granted to Harish Kumar, the 9th accused in the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials, during the raid on former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence in May. The bail was granted by the Thiruvananthapuram Sessions Court on June 24.
The ED expressed apprehension that the prosecutor of the Thiruvananthapuram Sessions Court may have misinformed the court when the bail plea was considered, which resulted in the court granting him bail. The agency suspects that there could be other leaders who have called for the alleged attack, and they have not been investigated.
Further, the ED argued that the Supreme Court has condemned “mob” attacks against judicial officers. The sessions court should have denied the accused after considering the stance taken by the top court regarding the attack on officials, it argued.
The agency also informed the court that the organisers of the crime have not been arrested so far, the recovery of evidence was improper, and so the bail should not have been granted.
The High Court will consider the petition shortly.
Meanwhile, a plea to implead Sanath Reddy Polamreddy, the ED official who led the raid, in the bail application was filed before the Thiruvananthapuram Sessions Court on Friday. The plea stated that the investigation into the attack on ED officials was active and in early stages, and that a ‘substantial number of co-accused individuals were yet to be apprehended’. Mr. Polamreddy, the complainant in the FIR registered in the matter, stated that he intended to place the ‘true and unvarnished’ facts of this case before the court.
A public interest litigation is also pending before the High Court, seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the attack. The court has asked the State to file a statement regarding the steps taken after the FIR was registered for the offence.
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