Chennai, Aug 29:
The Chennai Principal Sessions Court has dismissed the bail petitions filed by a police inspector and another accused arrested for allegedly extorting ₹40 lakh from a businessman by threatening to implicate him in the murder case of Tamil Nadu BSP leader K Armstrong.
The accused, Mohamed Buhari, an inspector attached to the Parangimalai police station, and Srinivasan, a former member of the Friends of Police organisation, were arrested by the Yanai Kavuni police on August 3.
According to the police, the duo allegedly threatened a Chennai-based businessman, identified as Akhil, by claiming that he would be implicated in the Armstrong murder case unless he paid them money. The accused allegedly extorted ₹40 lakh from him.
Following their arrest, Mohamed Buhari and Srinivasan moved the Chennai Principal Sessions Court seeking bail.
In their petitions, the accused contended that the police had already seized the digital evidence and mobile phones connected with the case. They also assured the court that they were willing to cooperate with the investigation and sought bail.
Opposing the bail pleas, the prosecution submitted that the investigation was still at an initial stage. It was also argued that Mohamed Buhari was a serving police inspector and that granting him bail at this stage could affect the investigation.
The petitions came up for hearing before Principal Sessions Judge P Karthikeyan.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge considered the nature of the allegations and the stage of the investigation and held that it was not a fit case for granting bail at this stage.
The court subsequently dismissed the bail petitions filed by both accused.