The source of the 10 litres of petrol which was to be allegedly used to set afire the ONGC building, Thakkar Mall and Mangaldas Market was the motorcycle of one of the accused in the case, said the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
The ATS said this in a reply filed by investigating officer Mohan Kulkarni, opposing the bail applications filed by the two arrested accused — Abdul Latif and Riyaz Ali Shaikh.
In the bail petitions, which will be heard on Friday, the accused had argued that the ATS had not revealed the source of petrol as it is difficult to obtain so much petrol in the market.
“During the interrogation of the accused persons, it was revealed that motorcycle used by Riyaz Ali was the source of petrol,” stated the reply.
Defence lawyer Ramdayal Chauhan said, “They are revealing this for the first time. Nowhere has it been mentioned in the charge sheet that the source of the petrol was a motorcycle. This has been fabricated.”
Incidentally, petrol is not available in the market unless filled in a vehicle.
The reply also states the word paani (water), used in the conversations between Latif and Shiakh, refers to petrol.
“Though the word petrol is not used in the conversation, the word paani is referred to as the material to be used to set the buildings on fire. When the sentences are taken into consideration wholly, the meaning is very clear,” states the reply.
The two accused allegedly plotted to attack the ONGC building, Mangaldas Market, Thakkar Mall, a slum with a majority of Gujratis near it and Gaiety-Galaxee multiplex at the instructions from a Pakistan-based “uncle”, Bashir Ahmed Khan, an absconding accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case.
