PANJIM: The Lok Sabha elections have delayed the transfer of Israeli national Yaniv Benaim alias Atala – arrested in Uttarakhand for illegally staying in India – to Goa although he has withdrawn his anticipatory bail filed before the judicial magistrate at Mapusa.
The 44-year-old was arrested in Uttarakhand’s Banbasa town of Champawat district on April 30 for staying in India without a valid visa for seven years. He was held by immigration authorities at the check post in Banbasa while trying to cross into Nepal.
His custodial interrogation sought by Goa Police in an assault case registered barely five days before his arrest on the border has been postponed due to the Lok Sabha polls, as Uttrakhand police have expressed their inability to escort him to Goa until May 14.
Before escaping from Goa, Atala had moved the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Mapusa seeking anticipatory bail in the assault case registered at Anjuna police station. For this hearing, which had been scheduled on May 9, the JMFC had directed the Superintendent of Lohaghat Jail in Champvat to produce the accused before it at 10 am. Information available with Herald reveals that accordingly, the jail authorities moved the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Champavat and the local police to ensure his deposition in the Mapusa court. This order came with a rider that the police escort that would bring Atala to Goa should produce him back to the CJM Champavat on May 14, which is when his 14 days judicial custody ends.
Seeking a fresh date for Atala’s appearance in the court, the Superintendent of Police, Champavat in a letter to JMFC, Mapusa stated, “Due to Lok Sabha election duty, it is not possible to produce accused Yaniv Benaim before the court on May 9.”
A suspected drug dealer, Atala has been residing in the northern coastal belt of Goa for quite a long time and has been booked in a series of cases and convicted in two cases – drug peddling (2005) and overstaying (2006).
With this case in the northern State, police sources said, Atala might face a tough time considering that the Uttrakhand police are not keen to hand over his custody to Goa Police.
“He has been living in Goa for seven years without a valid visa but no action was taken against him. The gross violation is that a foreign national with criminal antecedents is staying in India without documents, and moreover in a tourist State which is always under terrorist threat,” said an officer.
The FRRO (Goa Police) has also confirmed that Atala does not possess the mandatory travel documents.
Meanwhile, Atala has withdrawn his anticipatory bail in the assault case wherein he along with two Russians Maxim Litrinov and Denis have been charged with assaulting a man with steel rod and knife at Chapora, his lawyer Advocate Swapnil Nachinolkar confirmed. The survivor was seriously injured while the three accused escaped.
