- India
- International
A SPECIAL court Thursday refused to extend the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) custody of three accused arrested in connection with the attack on security personnel in Gadchiroli in May.
Last month, eight accused arrested in May by Maharashtra Police were transferred to a Mumbai prison after NIA took over the probe. Last week, the NIA was granted their custody till August 1.
Special Public Prosecutor Geeta Godambe sought further police custody of Somsay Madavi (38), Kisan Gadami (42) and Sakru Gota (35) for seven days. The investigating officer told the court that the three participated in a meeting before the attack. They were allegedly responsible for planting explosives, which caused the attack that resulted in the death of 15 policemen and one civilian.
But Special Judge V S Padalkar said the NIA’s grounds were “absolutely not sufficient”. The court said the accused were arrested on June 23 and had been in the custody of Maharashtra Police till July 5.
The court said sufficient time was granted for the probe and further custody could not be given.