Mohammed Nalapad, son of Congress MLA NA Haris was denied bail by the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday in connection with an assault case.
Nalapad was arrested after he and friends brutally assaulted 24-year-old Vidvat, the son of a prominent businessman in an uptown café in Bengaluru on February 17.
In the last hearing on Friday, Special Public Prosecutor Shyamsundar, who is representing Vidvat, argued that Nalapad should be denied bail on grounds of fabricating evidence. He alleged that the defence had furnished a “fake” discharge report of Vidvat. He also suggested malpractice by them for accessing the document, which is in violation of standard practice.
He also argued that the assault meted out to Vidvat was not only grievous but also was not limited to a single place. He submitted three videos as evidence, which reportedly shows Nalapad entering UB City along with 15 men. The second was a 15-minute clip of Nalapad and his gang brutally assaulting Vidvat, and the third one was that of Nalapad and the gang threatening Vidvat’s brother Satvik at Mallya Hospital.
According to the FIR, Vidvat and his friend Praveen Venkatachalaiah had gone to Farzi Cafe on February 17 for dinner, when a fight broke out.
Nalapad had asked Vidvat not to stretch his legs in the café. But Vidvat argued that he had injured his legs and therefore had to stretch them.
Nalapad later called his henchman and they allegedly brutally assaulted Vidvat. Currently, Vidvat is recovering at Mallya Hospital. Initially, the police did not register an FIR under section 307. It was added on February 19, two days after the incident.
Nalapad surrendered before police officials at the Cubbon Park police station on February 19. Since then, he has remained in jail after a lower court denied him bail.
On February 21, Nalapad filed for bail. In his application, he said that invoking IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) was wrong. His plea claimed that the section was added due to his political connections and the media scrutiny of the case.
The plea also cited that Vidvat was drunk and he was injured when he fell on his face.
Shyamsundar dismissed the pleas by pointing out that Vidvat was injured by the brutal assault by Nalapad and his associates who punched and kicked him.
Doctors at Mallya hospital who treated Vidvat rubbished claims that he was drunk.
"I was there along with Dr Veda, who was the Chief Medical Officer. He (Vidvat) was conscious, alert. There were no signs of drowsiness or restlessness and he was not under the influence of alcohol. There was swelling on his face due to a nasal bone fracture and he also had injuries on his rib. There is no doubt he was grievously injured," Dr Humera had earlier told TNM.
The arguments in the bail application case had come to an end on February 27 and Nalapad was denied bail on the grounds that the police officials were yet to record Vidvat's statement.
Police officials finally managed to record Vidvat's statement on March 3 and he was discharged from Mallya Hospital on March 5. In his statement, Vidvat revealed to the police that he was assaulted on three separate occasions in UB City - in Farzi Cafe, on the elevator and in the parking lot.
The case has been under massive media and public scrutiny with the Karnataka Assembly elections around the corner.
BJP and AAP supporters hit the streets soon after news broke of the incident, demanding that Nalapad be booked for attempt to murder too.
In the last three weeks, the protests have intensified with AAP holding a protest march in Shantinagar, where Haris is the MLA. The BJP has also kick-started a ‘Protect Bengaluru’ campaign and has attacked the Congress for fostering crime in the city.