One Shashwat Shukla of Kanpur has filed an anticipatory bail application in the court of the District and Sessions Judge, South West, Dwarka in connection with the arrest of a gang for selling ganja, MDMA and other drugs to university students in the National Capital Region.
Shukla alleged he had been falsely implicated in the case by Delhi Police in connivance with the accused. The plea, which was listed on December 4, will come up for final hearing on December 12.
On November 29, 2023, Shukla received a notice under Section 67 of NDPS Act 1985 from Sudhir Kumar (Investigating Officer), of Crime Branch, New Delhi asking him to be present at the Crime Branch Delhi Police Station. Shukla then approached the court for anticipatory bail.
The notice was in connection with an FIR registered against Dwarka resident Lakshya Bhatia and Kanpur resident Khalid Zafar.
Shukla’s plea said he has no nexus with the above-mentioned FIR and the said offence and that he is 28 and has never been named in any criminal case or FIR before this instance. The applicant said the allegation in the FIR is bogus, vague and the story in it seems concocted. Shukla said he is a resident of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and got married six months ago. He has a family to take care of as its sole bread-winner.
The plea drew attention to the fact that main accused Lakshya Bhatia was apprehended by police with 1200 gm ganja and 15 gm MDMA at Dwarka Mor, Delhi Metro Station, Delhi, on 16.11.2023 at around 4.20 pm. Further, the FIR had no public witness and the whole procedure was conducted by police.
The plea said he has been wrongly sent notice by the IO since he has never met or had any contact with Bhatia or any of his friends or known persons. Further, his name is not mentioned in the FIR and the applicant has no knowledge or connections with the alleged accused persons.
Apart from the disclosure of the co-accused, inadmissible by itself, Shukla said there is no other material with police to connect the applicant to the crime. Since he had no criminal record, Shukla said he deserved pre-arrest bail and said he would join the investigation if the court grants him pre-arrest bail.
Shashwat Shukla’s advocate Mohd Fuzail Khan said his client had no criminal antecedents and is a qualified civil engineer. He is currently working in a reputed construction company in Uttar Pradesh. “I hope justice will be done to him and he will be granted anticipatory bail by the court,” Khan said.