HC grants bail to man held in 2019 grenade-lobbing case

Guwahati: The Gauhati high court has granted bail to Sanjib Talukdar, who was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for throwing a grenade at police personnel near the Assam State Zoo in 2019.
On May 15, 2019, at approximately 7.40 pm, unidentified miscreants hurled a grenade at police officers conducting vehicle checks outside Central Mall on RG Baruah Road in Guwahati, injuring 12 people. The Geetanagar police station registered a case, with Ulfa-I suspected of involvement. Talukdar, identified as a suspect, was apprehended on May 27, 2019, and remained in custody.
The NIA took over the investigation in June 2019. In Nov 2019, they filed charges against 10 people, including various IPC sections and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Talukdar's initial bail application was rejected by the NIA court in Nov 2019, and his subsequent criminal appeal was dismissed by the HC in 2022.
The special judge, NIA, Guwahati later framed charges against Talukdar under IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. His renewed bail application in 2023 was rejected, leading him to file a criminal application with the high court. He had been in custody since May 27, 2019, for the case registered at Geetanagar police station.
Justices Manash Ranjan Pathak and Susmita Phukan Khaund said, "Considering that as on April 7, 2025, only 32 numbers of prosecution witnesses out of 177 numbers of named prosecution witnesses in the charge sheet have been examined by the prosecution so far, where the charge sheet was filed on November 11, 2019, charge was framed on February 3, 2022, and the appellant (Talukdar) is in custody since May 27, 2019, the court found that appellant's right to a speedy trial was infringed and the right guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution."
The court observed minimal progress in the trial and determined that the appellant (Talukdar) had a legitimate claim to be released on bail due to extended imprisonment. He was granted bail with conditions, including surrendering his passport to the Special Judge, NIA, Guwahati within two weeks and maintaining cooperation with the NIA court throughout the trial proceedings.