Merces, June 26: The Additional Sessions Court has turned down the bail application of accused No. 9, Muttappa, also known as Sunny Nikode, in connection with the high-profile killing of Ahmad Devdi, registered under Crime No. 91/2024 at the Mapusa Police Station.
The applicant had moved for bail by invoking the rule of parity, pointing out that a co-accused had recently secured bail from the High Court. He further maintained that his involvement was strictly limited to providing transportation for one of the suspects following the confrontation.
State prosecutors strongly opposed the application, arguing that the accused was a key conspirator in the plot to assassinate Ahmad Devdi. To support this claim, they presented call detail records linking him to the other suspects and noted that statements from eyewitnesses directly connected him to assisting the perpetrators both before and after the crime took place.
Representing the victim’s family, Advocate Vinayak D. Porob acted as an intervenor and strongly contested the application. He emphasized that the gravity of the offence, the conspiracy involved, and the high risk of witness tampering made the accused unfit for release on bail.
The court ultimately agreed with these concerns, observing that no fresh circumstances had emerged since the High Court’s earlier rejection of his application. The judge remarked that the grant of bail to another accused does not automatically entitle this applicant to bail on the ground of parity, particularly in view of the evidence indicating his role in the larger conspiracy.
Accordingly, the bail application was dismissed.
