Mumbai triple blasts: HC says no discharge for hawala operator who helped fund terror group

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday rejected the discharge plea of hawala operator Kamalnayan Pathreja, who has been accused of facilitating the 2011 triple blasts at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar. Pathreja allegedly routed a sum of ₹10 lakh, through hawala channels, to Yasin Bhatkal, an Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative and the purported brain behind the blasts.

The 50-year-old Ghaziabad resident had approached HC after his discharge plea was rejected by the special court on January 5.

Twenty-seven people died and 127 others were injured after three bombs placed in vehicles at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar went off on July 13, 2011.

According to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad’s (ATS) investigation, IM operative Haroon Rashid Abdul Hameed Naik transferred the sum from Dubai to India. The amount was routed via Pathreja, whose employee delivered the amount to Bhatkal, who accepted it under his assumed name Shivanand.

Pathreja sought discharge on the ground of insufficient evidence to frame charges against him. His counsel, Ashok Mundargi, submitted that there was no material to indicate that Pathreja knew about true identity of ‘Shivanand’ or the plan to use the amount to facilitate bomb blasts.

Mundargi said the prosecution had failed to show that the amount was used for facilitating the terrorist attack.

The division bench of justice Indrajit Mahanty and justice Sarang Kotwal did not accept the contention, stating that provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA), 1999 provide for certain presumptions against the accused. These can be rebutted only during trial, after the prosecution gets opportunity to lead evidence in support of its claim, said the court.