Pulwama attack conspiracy case: Delhi court grants bail to accused

Forty CRPF personnel were killed in the Pulwama attack last year

An accused in the Pulwama terror attack conspiracy, Yusuf Chopan, has been granted bail by a Delhi court due to the National Investigating Agency's (NIA) failure to file a chargesheet, according to a report by legal news portal Live Law.

The court observed that the accused was entitled to statutory bail as the NIA (which was the investigating agency in this case) had failed to file a chargesheet within the statutory period of 180 days.

After Chopan had already been in custody for around 180 days, the application for his bail was moved since the time to file the chargesheet had already elapsed, the court order noted. Special NIA judge Parveen Singh observed that the said time period ended on February 11, 2020, adding that the chargesheet had not been filed against the accused "due to insufficient evidence".

Having set certain conditions, the court then granted him bail. Chopan was asked to furnish a bond in the sum of Rs 50,000 along with one surety of the like amount. He would also be required to join the investigation as and when required and attend the court in accordance with the conditions of the bond executed by him.

On February 14 last year, a terrorist drove a truck laden with explosives into a convoy of vehicles carrying paramilitary troops on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in South Kashmir's Pulwama district. Around 44 Central Reserve Police Forced (CRPF) personnel were killed with another 20 having sustained injuries in the attack.