NIA court rejects bail to accused in Harsha murder case

A special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases has rejected bail to an accused in the Bajrang Dal activist Harsha murder case. Special court judge C M Gangadhara dismissed the application filed by Jafer Sadiq, a car dealer from Shivamogga, holding that there is prima facie case against him in the conspiracy.

Harsha was murdered on February 20, 2022 in Shivamogga.

The applicant Jafer Sadiq has been arraigned as accused number 10 in the case. The prosecution allegation is that Sadiq had provided logistics, provided cars to the other accused to purchase and transport weapons and also to conduct recce and chase deceased Harsha.

The applicant mainly argued that there was no motive to commit the alleged crime. He also stated that there were no eye-witnesses to the alleged incident and claimed that the prosecution case was entirely based on suspicion.

P Prasanna Kumar, Special Public Prosecutor for NIA, submitted that though there was no animosity between the deceased and the accused, the only motive was to terrorize the people of Hindu community. The prosecution argued that Harsha was working towards Hindutva and Gorakshane. Therefore, the accused developed animosity and killed him with an intention to create fear in the minds of people at large.

The court said that a CD handed over by the Investigating Officer (IO) contains evidence that the accused knew about the conspiracy hatched by the other accused persons. The CD contains the statements of protected witnesses.

“Moreover, the investigation is still under progress. The Investigating Officer needs to collect the evidence in respect of the larger conspiracy made by the petitioner and other accused persons in committing the alleged crime. The acts committed by the petitioner in commission of the offence attract the ingredients of the offences punishable under the provisions of UAPA. Hence, there is a clear bar under Section 43-D (5) of the UAPA to grant bail to the petitioner,” the special judge said.