--- On Tue, 7/9/10, Anees
Date: Tuesday, 7 http://www.maudany.com/blog/madani-back-jail-prime-witness-says-his-testimony-forged Madani is back in jail. But the prime witness says his testimony is forged Submitted by maudany on Mon, 08/23/2010 - 04:10 Tehelka report by KK Shahina THIS IS unbelievable. I never imagined that the police could fabricate a case like this,” says Jose Varghese, the prime witness in the 2008 Bengaluru blasts case. Varghese’s purported testimony was the basis on which the Karnataka Police nabbed Popular Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Abdul Nasar Madani amid high drama in Kollam, Kerala, on 17 August. Madani had been staying at a house owned by Varghese’s sister in Kochi after he was released from prison in 2007. Madani was arrested in 1998 for his role in the Coimbatore serial blasts. “On 6 January this year, I got a call from the Bengaluru Police at around noon,” Varghese recalls. “A man introduced himself as Omkaraiah, the Deputy Commissioner of Police. He asked me to come to Madani’s house and bring a copy of the rent agreement. When I reached, Omkaraiah brought a person inside, whose face was covered. The police told me that he was T Naseer, one of the key accused in the blasts case. They showed me a document written in Kannada and asked me to sign it. Initially, I refused because I don’t know Kannada. Then they explained that they just wanted me to be a witness to their procedure of adducing evidence. So, I reluctantly signed it,” Varghese says. Four months later, I got another call from Omkaraiah, who asked me to come to a hotel in Aluva. There, the police showed me some photographs, but I wasn’t able to identify anyone. They showed another photograph and forced me to say that I knew that person. They told me he was a terrorist who had been shot dead in Kashmir. But I didn’t lie,” says Varghese, who claims the police were irritated when he refused to cooperate. A few days later, Varghese was shocked to hear that he had been made the prime witness in the case. “I came to know about it when a news channel reporter came to interview me,” he says. “I realised that what I had signed was a testimony against Madani. Within days, I filed a private complaint in the court.” According to the police chargesheet, Varghese had witnessed Naseer talking to Madani when he went to collect the rent and overheard the words “blast” and “Bengaluru”. Eight blasts had occurred in a span of 30 minutes, killing a woman and injuring 15 on 25 July 2008. “I can’t cheat my conscience. I don’t know whether Madani is involved in the case. I’m compelled to believe that Madani has been falsely implicated,” claims Varghese. THE BENGALURU Police cited Varghese’s plea before the court as an example of Madani’s ability to turn witnesses hostile and asked the Karnataka High Court to reject Madani’s bail plea. Meanwhile, doubts have surfaced about another testimony. According to sources, PDP worker MM Mazeed had testified to the Karnataka Police in Kannur on 12 January about the relationship between Naseer and Madani. However, PDP leaders claim that Mazeed was an acute cancer patient and was undergoing treatment 317 km away in an Ernakulam hospital where he died on 16 January. Madani was arrested from Anwarssery with the Karnataka Police executing the warrant with the help of a reluctant Kerala Police. The Kerala government tried its best to distance itself from the highprofile case and the friction has developed into a tug-of-war with Karnataka. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article509851.ece C.K. Abdul Aziz, chairman of the policy formation committee of the People's Democratic Party, writes: The comments made by Teesta Setalvad that appeared in TheHindu on June 6 picturising the People's Democratic Party as an outfit engaged in intolerant activities in Kerala are politically motivated. Her attempts to pair the PDP with the NDF [National Development Front] are intriguing. The PDP is a registered national political party with a clean record of democratic functioning in Kerala for the past 17 years. Although our party chairman was implicated in the Coimbatore bomb blast case, he was acquitted by both the trial court and the Supreme Court. ‘Falsely implicated' He was falsely implicated by the Congress-led government in many 153-A cases for alleged provocative speeches. But all those charges were found by the courts to be baseless. Our political opponents make use of the cases in which he was discharged as political weapons to counter the mass support the party enjoys among the poorer sections of society. We doubt that Ms. Setalvad has turned into their spokeswoman to spread malice against the PDP. Being a social worker, she is not entitled to make such irresponsible statements. The people of Kerala know that she was the star campaigner for anti-Left Democratic Front propagandists in Kerala during the last Parliament elections. Since then, we realise, she has targeted the PDP in her public speeches. Our political stand to strengthen the LDF has invited heavy criticism by, and the wrath of, ardent communal Muslim organisations. We are not a Muslim party, but one supported by the Muslim masses. This creates the core issue against the PDP. It is quite unfortunate that eminent personalities like Ms. Setalvad have jumped on the bandwagon of pro-imperialists and communalists in Kerala politics. The party has served a legal notice on Ms. Setalvad, asking her to apologise for the derogatory comments she made or face legal action. The PDP is no more prepared to ignore such irresponsible accusations. Dear Brother, Assalamu Alaikum Now we are all going to enjoy the Day of Eid Al Fithar soon.... But we may think about one of our Brother Abdul Nazir Maudani who spent his life for the benefit of this Ummath, is now behind the Bars. You must think that he has also wife, children, Parents , brothers and sisters.... what can we do for him.... Let us participate in Praying for his liberation and Pay some money to his Legal Aid Fund Please send some money to Justice for Maudany Forum Account No. 31372368786, S.B.I, KarunagappallyBranch at the earliest... with Prayers Brother in Islam.. -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "newsline" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/newsline?hl=en?hl=en http://www.newstower.blogspot.com/
