Police asked to explain media interview of suspects
NEW DELHI, Oct 15: A court in New Delhi on Wednesday asked the city police to explain how a leading magazine managed to interview Muslim men arrested for alleged involvement in deadly serial bombings, a lawyer said.
The weekly India Today magazine had recently published interviews with the terror suspects in which the men allegedly confessed to planting bombs that killed more than 20 people and injured around 100 in New Delhi on Sept 13.
“If Allah wants, I’ll bomb the market where my mother buys vegetables. She will be sent to paradise,” suspect Ziaur Rehman was quoted as saying by the magazine.The other two men also spoke freely about their apparent role in the bombings, the magazine had said.
Police had allowed access to the media for the interview, while not letting the accused meet their lawyers, leading lawyer Prashant Bhushan said.
“This amounts to criminal contempt of court and defamation,” Bhushan said.
“It’s a case of a gross offence by the police,” he said, adding he would also file a lawsuit against the magazine.
More than 100 people have died in recent months in terror strikes across India.—AFP