PUNE: The hearing in the German bakery bomb blast case against Indian Mujahideen ( IM ) mastermind Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal has been deferred 32 times in the last 18 months Bhatkal's presence in the district and sessions court in Pune either in person or through video conferencing is necessary for the trial to begin.His lawyer Zaheer Pathan told TOI on Friday that the dates for production of the accused and framing of charges against Bhatkal had been fixed several times, but he was not produced before the special court.After Bhatkal was charged on August 6, 2014, the court had directed the ATS to secure his presence via video conferencing, but he has not been produced in court till date. "The Anti-Terror Squad, Pune has not filed any report to show why Bhatkal's presence could not be secured before the court," Pathan added.The ATS, Pune unit's assistant commissioner of police Bhanupratap Barge, who is investigating the absconding suspects in the blast case, told TOI on Friday that Bhatkal is also facing trial in a terror case in a Hyderabad court and his physical presence before the court in Pune cannot be secured because the government has ordered his detention under section 268 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code till the conclusion of trial pending against him.As such, the state government may, "by general or special order, direct that any person or class of persons shall not be removed from the prison in which he or they may be confined or detained". Bhatkal is lodged in Hyderabad jail."We have been filing reports before the court in Pune for extending his judicial custody on all the dates. After the Hyderabad court concludes his trial, we will secure his physical presence before the court for framing of the charges for the trial against him in the German Bakery blast case," Barge added.Bhatkal is the second accused arrested in the German Bakery blast case. He has been identified by the ATS as the man who planted the bomb in the popular eatery. The explosion in the bakery in Koregaon Park had killed 17 people and injured 64 on February 13, 2010.A key suspect in several terror blasts since 2008, Bhatkal was arrested at the India-Nepal border in a joint operation by the central intelligence agencies and the Bihar police on August 28, 2013. The state ATS, Pune unit had arrested him on March 13, 2014.The ATS had found that the first suspect Mirza Himayat Inayat Baig, who allegedly headed Lashkar-e-Taiba's module in the state, had hatched the conspiracy on January 31, 2010 in his cyber cafe in Udgir in the presence of absconding suspects Mohsin Choudhary and Bhatkal. Baig had recced the bakery and Bhatkal planted the bomb.Baig was arrested on September 7, 2010 and sentenced to death on April 18, 2013. His appeal challenging the conviction is pending in the Bombay high court. The supplementary chargesheet filed on August 6, 2014 read that he, Baig and the other absconding suspects "had hatched a criminal conspiracy to undermine and reduce the faith of the common citizen in its elected government and thereby de-stabilize the country".The criminal conspiracy "was to damage the lives and properties of foreign nationals visiting India and the people residing in Pune by planting the bomb. Its explosion, thereby, caused serious damage to the economy of the country and its reputation in the matters of security", the chargesheet added.