Anil chopper accused granted bail

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday wondered if two persons accused in the Anil Ambani helicopter "sabotage" case were safer in prison than being out on bail. Expressing his inclination to grant them bail, justice VM Kanade asked the duo: "But will you be safe after securing bail?"
Advocate Rajendra Desai, who appeared on behalf of the accused, told the court that his clients were willing to take the "risk". The court's concern was probably aroused by the death of Bharat Borge, who was the first to find mud and pebbles in the gear box of the Bell 412 chopper, under mysterious circumstances on April 28.
The two accused, Uday Warekar, 32, and Palraj Thewar, 38, had also informed the court through their petition about the death of Anil Kotian, a technician who had also been on the chopper. Kotian, too, died under mysterious circumstances on August 24.
All four were employees of Air Works India Engineering Pvt Ltd (AWIEPL), which was in charge of maintenance of the chopper.
In their bail application, the duo stated that they had entered the chopper to clean it and were not skilled technicians who could have opened the gear box as it requires spanners and other tools.
They contended that there was no witness statement pointing towards their involvement in a possible sabotage bid. The court accepted their arguments, granting them bail of Rs5,000 each.
11/11/09 Mayura Janwalkar/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Nov 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2009, Safety Nov 2009