Kolkata, Mar 2 (IANS): After spending 40 days behind bars, the All India Secular Front's lone MLA in West Bengal, Naushad Siddique was granted bail by the Calcutta High Court.

The court also granted bail to 63 other AISF activists, who were arrested along with Siddique on January 11 afternoon, when streets in central Kolkata turned into virtual battlefields following clashes between police and AISF activists over a protest rally by the party. A total of 88 persons were arrested in this connection during the course of investigation in the matter.

Granting the bail to the AISF legislator, Justice Debangshu Basak accepted the arguments of his counsel that the police could not provide substantiating documents proving that Siddique took a lead role in attacking the police personnel on that day.

On Wednesday, Justice Basak asked the police to submit to the court more substantiating documents in support of their charges apart from the video footage of the event on that day which has been already submitted to the court. However, the public prosecutor was unable to provide additional substantiating documents on this count.