NIA seeks CCTV footage from Maha ATS in German bakery blast case

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) to provide it with a copy of the CCTV footage of the 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune.A division bench of justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar has posted the application for hearing tomorrow.NIA, which took over the blast case at a later stage, had made a similar request before the trial court which was rejected. The agency has now approached the high court seeking copy of the CCTV footage from inside the bakery.According to the agency, the footage shows that the man who planted the explosive substance was Yasin Bhatkal, alleged founder of terror outfit Indian Mujahideen.[caption id="attachment_967151" align="alignleft" width="380"]

The germany bakery after the blasts in this file photo. Reuters[/caption]NIA filed its application along with the death confirmation petition of Mirza Himayat Baig, the lone convict in the blast case in which 17 people, including five foreigners, were killed.On February 13, 2010, a bomb exploded inside the German Bakery, a popular eatery in Pune. In April, the sessions court in Pune awarded death penalty to Baig observing that it was a rarest of rare case.Baig was convicted under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Explosives Act.According to the charge sheet filed by Anti Terrorism Squad, five others accused — Fayyaz Kagzi, Yasin Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal and Mohsin Chaudhari — are still absconding.The high court has posted the death confirmation petition and Baig's appeal challenging his conviction for final hearing on August 5.PTI