A sessions court has refused to cancel the bail granted to a commerce graduate from Kolkata who is accused of sending a hoax bomb threat mail to Bandra’s Mount Mary church in 2022. The communication mentioned the name of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, with the threat of bombing the church at a specific time. Interestingly, the church had received another email the same day, apologising for the first email, while claiming that it was sent by the intellectually disabled child of the accused.
The Bandra police had registered a complaint against unknown persons under the Indian Penal Code section 505 (3) (statements creating, promoting enmity between classes committed in a place of worship). The police had then traced the IP address from which the threat mail was sent and subsequently arrested the accused on January 4. After two days in police custody, the magistrate had granted him bail. Underlining that the offence is one against society at large, the Bandra police had approached the sessions court demanding bail cancellation. It contended that the magistrate had ignored the material before it and granted the accused bail.
Additional Sessions Judge SU Hake said that the magistrate was justified in granting the relief. It pointed out the accused had complied with bail conditions and for bail cancellation, the prosecution must make out an exceptional case, which it has not. It also noted that immediately after the hoax email, another email was received that specifically mentioned about the mental disorder and also said that the email was sent by mistake.
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