Akshay Kanti Bam
Credit: X/@AkshayKantiBam
Indore (MP): The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Akshay Kanti Bam, a Congress turncoat, and his father in an alleged attempted murder in Indore.
Bam had pulled out of the race as the candidate of Congress for the Indore Lok Sabha seat on the last day of withdrawal of nomination (April 29) and joined the ruling BJP soon after.
Five days after hearing arguments from all parties, Justice Prem Narayan Singh of the Indore bench of the HC granted anticipatory bail to Bam (46) and his father Kantilal (75).
A city judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) had on April 24 ordered the addition of IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) in the FIR registered against Bam and his father in connection with an alleged attack on local farmer Yunus Patel in 2007 over a land dispute.
A sessions court in Indore had issued arrest warrants against Bam and his father on May 10.
Defence lawyer Ajay Mishra told reporters that he drew the court’s attention to the 17-year-long delay in the matter and contended that Bam and his father have many movable and immovable properties in the city and it was not possible that they would abscond.
Farmer Yunus Patel’s lawyer Mukesh Dewal argued that despite the order of the JMFC, Bam and his father did not deem it fit to appear before the sessions court on May 10 after which an arrest warrant was issued against both of them.
Dewal alleged that Bam was seen celebrating the birthday of a state minister on May 10.
An FIR was registered against Bam, his father Kantilal and others for allegedly attacking Patel on October 4, 2007, over a land dispute, according to the police.
Patel alleged that during this incident, Satvir Singh, a security agency owner, also fired a bullet at him from a 12-bore gun at the behest of Kantilal. Singh has died.
After Bam’s last-minute withdrawal from the Lok Sabha polls in Indore, the Congress had appealed to citizens to hit “NOTA” to “teach the BJP a lesson”.