Nainital: The Uttarakhand High Court on Monday granted bail to Abdul Malik, key accused in the Haldwani violence, in one of the four cases lodged against him.
A single bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani heard Malik's bail plea today. The court granted bail to Malik in a case related to encroachment of government land but no relief was granted in the case, where he has been accused of inciting violence in Haldwani nine months ago.
Four cases were registered against Malik during the violence. One of the cases was of encroaching upon government land on the basis of forged affidavit. He was accused of encroaching land and selling it off through conspiracies and "illegal" construction.
The state government opposed Malik's bail plea saying, the Banbhulpura incident started from here. The petitioner argued that bail should be granted since the land encroachment issue is not related to violence.
On February 8, 2024, violence broke out in Haldwani under Banbhulpura police station area of Nainital district. Some people attacked the police-administration teams when they had gone to remove an "illegal" encroachment on government land.
During the incident, more than 100 policemen were injured and five died due to bullet injuries. Also, the miscreants set the premises of Banbhulpura police station on fire and vandalised vehicles. Malik was accused of undertaking "illegal" construction on government land and inciting violence.
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