Pune German Bakery blast convict Himayat Baig will soon be moved from the city’s Arthur Road prison to Pune’s Yerawada jail. The Bombay High Court on Friday allowed the Maharashtra government’s plea seeking the transfer.
Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare told the court that Baig’s presence in the city was not required. He has been lodged in the high-security cell of the congested Arthur Road prison here. Mr. Thakare pleaded that the freed-up space can be better utilised for housing other inmates.
A Division Bench of Justices V.M. Kanade and M.S. Sonak allowed the State’s plea.
The court also fixed the next hearing for January 5, when it is likely to decide the date from which it will start hearing the plea to confirm the death sentence and Baig’s appeal against it.
Biag was nabbed by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on charges of involvement in the February 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune’s Koregaon Park area. The blast killed 17 persons and injured over 60.
He was the only person to be arrested in the case by the ATS in September 2010. The ATS alleged that he ran an Internet cafe from Udgir in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region.
In April, 2013, a trial court in Pune held Baig guilty of planning and executing the blast, and awarded him death sentence. When the matter came up for confirmation before the Bombay High Court, Baig preferred an appeal against it.
Investigative journalist Ashish Khetan claimed in a petition before the court that witnesses were coaxed to give statements against Baig.
