AIMF chief Idris Ali granted bail

Kolkata , Dec 18 (UNI) Calcutta High Court today granted bail to All India Minority Forum chief Idris Ali, arrested three weeks back for rioting and other criminal offences.

A division bench, headed by Justice Amit Talukdar, admitted his bail plea and freed Mr Ali though the prosecution opposed the move.

'' He is expected to walk free from jail after 25 days of his arrest,'' Mr Ali's counsel, Sekhar Bose told UNI.

The High Court took up his plea for hearing after the lower courts rejected the petition.

Mr Ali was arrested from his central Kolkata residence after an irate crowd staged blockades at several places in the city's central part demanding cancellation of exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen's visa in India and in protest against killing of anti-SEZ villagers in Nandigram.

The protest had sparked off violence that left dozens of demonstrators and some policcemen, including a senior official, wounded.

The Army had been called out to quell the violence and curfew imposed as a precautionary measure.

Mr Ali was earlier granted bail by Chief Metropolitan Court and Sealdah court. He was confined in jail on a district court ruling on the charge of rioting and attempt to murder during a demonstration at Amdanga village in North 24-Parganas a few years back.

UNI