BJP protests Pune lawyer’s move to defend terror accused

PUNE - A group of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists Sunday staged a demonstration outside the residence of lawyer Sushil Mancharkar, who plans to represent the two accused in the Feb 13 German Bakery bombing here.

“Around two dozen BJP activists led by their Pimpri-Chinchwad chief Eknath Pawar swooped on my residence here in my absence. They shouted slogans and demonstrated against my move before leaving the place,” Mancharkar told IANS.

They were protesting his plan to defend the terror accused duo - Mirza Himayat Baig of Udgir (Latur district) and Shaikh Lal Baba Mohammad Hussain Farid, alias Bilal of Nashik - and demanded that he should not appear for them as they had carried out an anti-national act.

However, they did not resort to any violence and left the area after the demonstration, Mancharkar said.

The terror accused duo was nabbed by the state Anti-Terrorist Squad Sep 8 for their alleged involvement in the blast at the popular German Bakery here Feb 13 that killed 17 people and injured over 65.

Asked whether he had sought police security in view of the strong opposition to his plan to represent the terror accused, Mancharkar replied in the negative.

Mancharkar, who has earned the ire of local political parties as well as the legal fraternity, lives in a quiet suburban residential locality of the Pimpri-Chinchwad area with his wife and two daughters.