Madras HC grants pre-arrest bail to Kamal Haasan over Godse remark
Madurai: The Madras High Court Monday granted anticipatory bail to actor-politician Kamal Haasan in a case filed against him over his controversial Hindu extremist remark.
Justice R Pugalendhi of the Madurai Bench directed the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder to appear before the judicial magistrate court in Aravakurichi and execute a bail bond for Rs 10,000 with two sureties each for a like sum.
Addressing an election rally in Aravakurichi last week, Haasan had said, "Free India's first terrorist was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it (terrorism, apparently) starts."
Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi.
An FIR was filed against Haasan on May 14, following which he moved court seeking anticipatory bail, saying his speech was about Godse only and not about Hindus as a whole.
Allowing his plea, the judge said the court was inclined to grant bail as the election process was still pending and he was the leader of a registered political party.
Haasan's remarks drew criticism from the BJP, ruling AIADMK and Hindu outfits.
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NIA conducts multi-state raids in Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast case
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday carried out multi-state raids in connection with its probe in Bengaluru's Ramshwaram Cafe blast case, officials said.
Several customers and hotel staff members were injured, some of them grievously, in the blast that caused extensive damage to the cafe in the IT city on March 1.
"Multi-states raids were underway in different locations," a senior NIA official said, without sharing further details.
The probe agency, that took over the case on March 3, had on April 12 arrested two key accused, including the mastermind Adbul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa, in the matter.
Taahaa and the other accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib, who had allegedly placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at the cafe, were arrested from a lodge near Kolkata, where they were staying under the assumed identities.
