Five Youth Acquitted of Terror Charges

Mumbai: Five Muslim youth were acquitted of terror charges by a Mumbai court on February 2. The youth Irfan Anjum Syed, Najeeb Baqqali, Feroze Ghaswala, Muhammad Ali Cheepa, and Imran Asnari were arrested in 2006 under charges of plotting terror in the country and having links with SIMI. The Jamiatul Ulema Hind Maharashtra’s legal cell took up their cases. Senior lawyers Patrhan Tahawwur Khan, Ishrat Ali Khan, Jamal Khan, Aftab Qureshi and Satya Ram Goud pleaded their cases. The Judge M. R. Natu Saheb found the prosecution failing in proving the charges of terror and criminal conspiracy against the youth. The court also found the evidence in matters of recovery of arms false and presenting false witnesses. President of the Jamiatul Ulema, Maharashtra Maulana Nadeem Siddiqui expressed hope that more youth implicated in false cases by Maharashtra Police too would be released. He said the acquittal of the innocent youth has enhanced the community’s confidence in the Indian judiciary.