Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday granted bail to Syed Mujahid, a nominated BBMP councillor and rowdy sheeter, who is an accused in the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) Group scam while observing that the investigation against him is almost complete and his mother is ill. The Court also declined to grant bail to four other accused persons, including Maulana Haneef Afsar Azeezi of the city’s Beoparian Masjid.
Syed Mujahid is arraigned as accused no. 14 in the multi-crore scam.
The accused who were denied bail are IMA directors A Nizamuddin, A Afsar Pasha and I Dadapeer, and Maulana Haneef Afsar Azeezi. However, the court gave them the liberty to move applications for bail before the trial court after the CBI completes its probe and submits its report to the trial court.
Granting Mujahid the bail, Justice K.N. Phaneendra in his order, noted that the investigation has concluded and the requirement for further probe is not a ground to keep him in judicial custody. The allegation against Mujahid is that he sold his property to IMA for excessive consideration amount.
Mujahid has to execute a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and two sureties for like sums. He has been ordered not to leave the country without prior permission of the trial court during pendency of the investigation, and to mark his attendance once in 15 days before the investigation officer for a period of three months or till final report is submitted by the CBI.
Syed Mujahid, who once used to sell handkerchiefs near Palace Mall in Shivajinagar, fought the 2015 BBMP polls on a JD(S) ticket from Bharathinagar (Ward number 91). He is a rowdy sheeter, with cases lodged against him in Shivajinagar police station. He is also a close associate of Mansoor Khan, the prime accused in the scam, and a close confidant of MLA B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, who has been questioned previously by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about his alleged association with Mansoor Khan.
He was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in July in connection with the investment scam, in which over 40,000 people, mostly Muslims have been cheated through Ponzi schemes.
