No interim bail to 5 in murder case on ground of COVID-19 fear

Mumbai, Jun 23 () A court here has denied interim bail to five undertrials arrested in a 2011 murder case.

The accused had raised the coronavirus pandemic as the ground for the relief, but additional sessions court judge Prashant Sitre refused the prayer, saying their act was "barbarous in nature".

The accused stated that their life was in danger in view of the pandemic.

The advocate of the accused told the court that one of them was HIV positive patient and is susceptible to the infection in the jail.

However, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam requested the court to dismiss the application given the gravity ofthecrime.

The accused--Uday Pathak, Bhola Choube,Vivekanand Pise, RahulMantri and Ajit Rane--are accused of brutally killing four persons over a minor dispute in suburban Malad in the year 2011.

The victims were found with their throats slit on a hillock two days after they had gone missing.

On medical history of one of the accused, the judge said the jailauthority can handle the situation. AVI NSK NSK