Court commences hearing arguments on charges against Tunda

The Delhi Police today commenced arguments on framing of charges in a special court against top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) bomb expert Abdul Karim Tunda in a case lodged in 1994 relating to recovery of explosives here.
Special Cell of Delhi Police told the court that there was circumstantial evidence against Tunda as 40 kg explosives were recovered from the house of his brother in Delhi, where he was also residing, and four other accused, who had faced the trial earlier in the case, had also given confessional statements that they had hatched the conspiracy for terror strikes here on the instructions of Tunda.

"These accused had conspired to commit terror strikes and there are confessional statements of four co-accused against Tunda," public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan told Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar.
Advocate M S Khan, who appeared for 72-year-old Tunda, argued that the material relied upon by the police against his client was only the disclosure statements of these co-accused.
He said that there was no question of conspiracy as these co-accused were earlier acquitted of the offence of criminal conspiracy by the designated court.
"When other co-conspirators have been acquitted (of the charges of conspiracy) then how can I (Tunda) be linked with it," Khan said, adding that Tunda was not charged along with the accused who had given the confessional statements.

During the hearing, the court asked the police as to how Tunda was linked with the entire conspiracy and observed that the state had not filed any appeal against acquittal of the five co-accused in December 1999 for the alleged offences under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).
"I cannot file an appeal on the judgement. State should have gone in appeal. I cannot review the judgement (of the trial court)," the judge told the police and fixed the matter for further hearing on May 15.