Madras court orders release of accused in riots case

CHENNAI: It is 15 years since the Chennai Central Prison witnessed its worst riots, which left 12 prisoners and two jail officials
dead. Now citing inordinate delay in conclusion of trial and lackadaisical approach of police and courts towards the case pending in a sessions court here, Madras high court has ordered the release of a key accused Koduku alias Nandagopal, on bail.
Justice P Devadass, pointing out that Nandagopal was in jail since his re-arrest in 2012, said: "Neither the police nor court is interested in completing the trial. Police is not interested because they are not executing non-bailable arrest warrants (NBWs) against the other accused. Court is not interested because it is not reminding police to execute the NBWs against other accused. Now, there is a bottleneck for conducting the trial. In such circumstances, the accused cannot be blamed."
Nandagopal filed the petition saying he was falsely implicated in the jail riots, which erupted after the death of a history-sheeter Boxer Vadivelu on prison campus. Recalling the incident, he said Vadivelu's death sparked a quarrel between inmates and jail personnel, and culminated into a fullfledged the riots in which a total of 14 people were killed. He said he was in jail for more than two years and that he had tried twice earlier to secure bail in the case.