Bombay High Court grants bail to four cybercrime suspects

The Bombay High Court has granted bail to four men who were arrested under a law aimed at fighting organized crime in a cybercrime case. The court's decision came on March 18, after the men had spent over two years in jail without their trial starting. Justice Shivkumar Dige noted that the accused do not have prior criminal records. He highlighted that the trial could take a long time, so keeping them in jail was not necessary. The men, Mujid Ibrahim Kandiyal, Ragib Sharif Ahmed, Mohammad Mahindu Maniyat, and Shrikrishna Bhimanna Gaikwad, will be released on bail after posting a personal bond of Rs50,000 each and providing one or two sureties. The case involves a nine-member gang accused of harassing loan applicants. They allegedly extorted money from victims by threatening them. The gang was led by Dheeraj Bhagat Punekar from Solapur. The defense argued that there was no solid evidence linking the four men directly to the crime, as the main accused were not named in the charges. Prosecutors opposed bail, claiming enough evidence exists to show that the accused were involved in selling personal data of victims. The situation raises important questions about the evidence and how it connects the accused to the alleged crime.