Kerala’s CPI(M)-led lDF Government has reportedly extended help to Islamist leader and Bangalore bombings-accused Abdul Nasser Madani, whose court-permitted visit to Kerala is facing uncertainty because of the Bangalore Police’s demand for a ‘huge amount’ in expenses for providing security to him during the visit.
The Islamist leader is expected to move the Supreme Court over this. Madani, currently an undertrial detainee in Bangalore as 31st accused in the case pertaining to the bombings of 2008 in that city, has got the permission of the judiciary to visit Kerala for seeing his ailing mother and attend the marriage of his son.
Kerala’s Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is said to have written to his Karnataka counterpart Siddaramaiah informing him of his Government’s willingness to arrange security for Madani within the State and therefore the fee quoted by the Bangalore Police could be lowered. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress has reportedly held discussions with the Kerala Chief Minister and his Karnataka counterpart over the issue.
The CPI(M), the Congress and the lDF and UDF in the State they are respectively leading in the State had come together in March, 2006 to unanimously pass a resolution in the Assembly seeking his release from the prison in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu where he was detained at that time in the case relating to the blasts of 1998 in that city.
“Madani had come to Kerala from Bangalore earlier also. The Karnataka Police had not demanded such huge security fees then. The Chief Minister has assured us that he would write to the Karnataka Government on the matter,” said Poonthura Siraj, vice-chairman of the PDP of which Madani is still the supreme leader. Siraj accused the Karnataka Government of being arrogant and inhuman in Madani’s case.
After the Supreme Court ruled the other day that Madani could visit Kerala from August 7 to 14 to attend his son’s marriage on August 9 on the condition that he himself would have to bear the expenses of his security in the home State. Before that, the trial court in Bangalore had allowed him to visit Kerala from August 1 to 7 to see his ailing mother at Karunagappally, Kollam.
However, the Bangalore Police quoted an amount of nearly Rs 14,80,000 as fee for providing security to him during the Kerala visit by a 19-member team of personnel including two Assistant Commissioners. As per the estimates of the police, the expenses of the two ACPs per day alone would come to Rs 8,472.
Madani and his family took the position that they could not afford to spend such a huge amount and therefore he would have to cancel the trip. Though his lawyer discussed the issue with the Bangalore police, there was no decision to lower the fee. He was told that the arrangements for the trip could be made only after Madani deposited the money in the government’s account.
The Islamist leader is expected to approach the Supreme Court on Thursday over the Bangalore Police’s insistence on paying the ‘huge amount’ for arranging security for his home visit. PDP leaders are arguing that the Karnataka Government had agreed to obey the apex court’s instruction to arrange minimum security for Madani at low expenses.
The Karnataka Police had arrested Madani, who had earlier undergone detention for nine years in the Coimbatore blasts case, from his operational headquarters Anvarssery in Kollam district on August 17, 2010 in the Bangalore bombings case of 2008 as 31st accused amidst prohibitory orders and one of the biggest police mobilizations Kerala had ever seen.
The Islamist leader was named as accused in the case on the basis of the alleged disclosures by Thadiyantavide Nazeer, the first accused identified as an leT commander. The charges slapped on Madani included criminal conspiracy, incitement to violence and anti-national activities under the provisions of the UAPA. There were a total of 32 accused in the case.