Bapi Mahato, the alleged mastermind of the Gyaneswari Express sabotage, on Tuesday made a judicial confession of 11 pages on his role in the carnage. His confession was sealed in a cover for its secrecy following the completion of its recording under the Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure.
As the prime accused in the case, Bapi recorded his statement before 12th metropolitan magistrate Apurba Kumar Ghosh at the Bankshal court.
The recording process that began at around 2.10 pm and ended at around 4.25 pm was held in the closed-door chamber of the judge.
Earlier, Bapi was brought to the court under tight security arrangements from the Presidency Jail and produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate. “The court directed the superintendent of the Presidency Jail to produce Bapi before the additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) of the Jhargram Court on or before July 1,” said special public prosecutor of the CBI, Partho Tapaswi.
The court also permitted deputy superintendent of police (special crime branch) of the CBI Prabal Haldar, the chief investigating officer in the case, to get a copy of the confessional statement.
“The court also directed to transfer the case records along with the sealed judicial confession to the ACJM, Jhargram,” Mr Tapaswi added.
In the evening, Bapi was taken back to the Presidency Jail.