Panaji: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) President Adv. Amit Palekar was granted interim bail by a local court in Mercedes accident case.
He was given bail late Thursday evening.
Palekar, the party’s Chief Minister’s face during the 2022 Assembly election, was arrested under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC on Thursday afternoon. Sources informed that there are charges against him that he allegedly attempted to mislead police by planting a dummy car driver to save the owner from getting arrested after an accident took place.
On August 6, three persons were killed and three others sustained critical injuries after a speeding Mercedes rammed into three cars and two two-wheelers while heading towards Panaji on the Banastari bridge in Ponda taluka, around 17 km from here.
After the accident, the people present at the site told reporters that a woman was driving the car.
However, the police had arrested Paresh Sinai Sawardekar (48) — husband of the woman Meghana Sawardekar. Later, the court granted conditional bail to the couple.
AAP Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas criticised the Crime Branch on Thursday for arresting Amit Palekar in connection with the Banastarim accident incident.
Viegas asserted that the fact that Adv. Amit Palekar has been granted bail on Thursday night highlights the lack of substantive evidence against him.
“This incident exposes the hollow nature of the charges brought against him and points towards a possible misuse of power by the BJP government. The party’s eagerness to pursue this course of action, despite its apparent lack of merit, raises valid concerns about the rule of law and the autonomy of law enforcement agencies” he said.
Viegas stated that the BJP government is actively pursuing a political agenda against the AAP. He highlighted the contradictory situation where the Crime Branch appears to shield the main suspects from apprehension while they had arrested Palekar who is not linked to the incident. “This strategic move by the BJP seems aimed at diverting the public’s focus away from the core issues,” Viegas said.
The local court in Ponda will continue the bail application hearing Friday.
