Lok Adalat snips bail bond for foreigner held in NDPS case

Noida: A Nigerian national got partial respite from National Lok Adalat on Saturday after a court allowed his application to reduce the surety and personal bond.The relief granted to Umealakei Emeka alias Alex by the fast-track court of the additional sessions judge was in consonance with an order of Allahabad high court while granting him bail on Jan 20. Filing an application at Lok Adalat, Umealakei — who has been languishing in jail since April 21 last year — said that he came from a very poor family and was a resident of another country. He was in prison for a long time and was "unable to furnish the bail amount". Judge Saurabh Dwivedi said, "Considering the legal framework laid down by the HC in Arvind Singh vs state of Uttar Pradesh through secretary, home department, under Section 482 and the facts stated in the petition, the applicant's petition is acceptable. The two sureties of Rs 2 lakh each are reduced to two sureties of Rs 50,000 each. The accused should be released upon furnishing the sureties and a personal bond of the same amount. The accused will also file an undertaking in compliance with the conditions imposed by the HC in its order." The matter is linked to the case registered with the Cyber Crime police in 2024, in which the Nigerian national was wanted after the server of a bank was hacked in Nainital and over Rs 16 crore was stolen. During a targeted raid on suspects on April 19, 2025, police arrested Alex along with two more people and allegedly recovered nearly 55 grams of contraband MDMA tablets from their possession. His bail application was earlier rejected by the additional sessions court in Aug last year. Even after securing bail from the HC, the accused remained in jail for not being able to furnish the sureties and personal bond.