The court granted bail due to insufficient evidence for continued detention under the relevant provisions of law.

ORDER

This application is filed under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 (for short, BNSS ), seeking regular bail.

2. The applicant is the accused No.5 in Crime No.32/2026 of Ottapalam Police Station, Palakkad District. The offences alleged are punishable under Sections 137 (2), 140(3), 324(5), 351(3), 109, 111, 116(f), 238, 311, 308(6), 140(2) and 249 r/w Section 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , 2023.

3. The prosecution case, in short, is that on

06.12.2025 at about 18:20 hours on Koottupatha-Aarangottukara, near a place called Dubai Road, Thirumittakode, accused Nos. 1 to 4, with the common intention of committing the offences, intercepted a car bearing number KL-71/M-0001, in which the de facto complainant and his employer, Sri.Muhammad Ali, was traveling. It is alleged that Sri.Muhammad Ali was forcefully taken from his car after causing damage to the car. Thereafter, the accused persons took him in an Innova car and demanded a ransom of 70 crores of rupees. The allegation against the applicant is that Sri.Muhammad Ali was shifted to another car in which the applicant was present. Thus, the applicant committed the above offences.

4. I have heard Sri.John Sebastian Ralph V., the learned counsel for the applicant and Sri.K.A. Noushad, the learned Senior Public Prosecutor. Perused the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present case. The counsel further submitted that no materials are on record to connect the applicant with the alleged crime; hence, he is entitled to bail. On the other hand, the learned Public Prosecutor submitted that the alleged incident occurred as a part of the intentional criminal acts of the applicant, and he is not entitled to bail at this stage.

6. The applicant was remanded to judicial custody on 15.12.2025. The investigation is almost over. The applicant has no criminal antecedents. For these reasons, I do not find any reason to hold that the continued detention of the applicant is required for any purpose. Hence, the applicant is entitled to be released on bail.

In the result, the application is allowed on the following conditions: -

(i) The applicant shall be released on bail on executing a bond for Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One lakh only) with two solvent sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Magistrate/Court.

(ii) The applicant shall fully co-operate with the investigation.

(iii) The applicant shall appear before the investigating officer between 10.00 a.m and 11.00 a.m. every Saturday until further orders. He shall also appear before the investigating officer as and when required.

(iv) The applicant shall not commit any offence of a like nature while on bail.

(v) The applicant shall not attempt to contact any of the prosecution witnesses, directly or through any other person, or in any other way try to tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses or other persons related to the investigation.

(vi) The applicant shall not leave the State of Kerala without the permission of the trial Court.

(vii) The application, if any, for deletion/modification of the bail conditions or cancellation of bail on the grounds of violating the bail conditions shall be filed at the jurisdictional court.

Sd/-