Patna blasts suspect released from jail after bail

A suspect in the October 2013 Patna serial blasts was Monday released from jail, four days after a court granted him bail, police said.

A designated court here Thursday granted bail to Tabish Niyaz alias Arshad Ansari, a resident of Alauli village in East Champaran district, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) soon after the blasts.

The court granted him bail as the NIA failed to file a chargesheet against him within the stipulated 180 days.

"Tabish Niyaz was released from the Beur jail in Patna after the concerned court papers reached there," a police official said.

His parents said their son was innocent and accused the NIA of framing him.

"Our son is innocent, he was falsely implicated and jailed for over six months," they said.

Niyaz was one of the 12 suspects arrested so far for the serial blasts ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha election rally.

At least seven people were killed and scores injured when bombs exploded near the rally venue Gandhi Maidan.

Six suspects were arrested from Ranchi, four from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh and two from Chhattisgarh capital Raipur. All 12 were lodged in Beur jail.

Though Niyaz was not named in the police complaint filed in the case, the NIA said he was one of the main accused.

He was also said to be a member of the Indian Mujahideen and was allegedly associated for three years with another accused Haider alias "Black Beauty".

Police said Niyaz carried out reconnaissance of the Gandhi Maidan and its surrounding areas while staying at a hotel in Patna.

His house in Motihari was alleged to have been used as a 'retreat' by the accused after the blasts.

Niyaz is a graduate in psychology, a student of Doranda College in Ranchi. He has worked with an NGO. Though a resident of Motihari, he spent most of his life in Ranchi in Jharkhand.