Jamiatul Ulema Hind has formed several panels of advocates in different cities to pursue the cases of the innocent youth held under false charges of terrorism by the police.
Lucknow: Yet again, the national media blacked out the news about a Lucknow court acquitting eight Muslim youngsters, arrested under false charges of terrorism and were being detained for the last eight years.
On October 29, a Lucknow court acquitted and ordered release of eight persons being detained under charges of terrorism in Uttar Pradesh for unsatisfactory evidence. Those released include Naushad, Jalaluddin, Noor Islam Mandal, Azizur Rahman, Ali Akbar Hussain and Sheikh Mukhtar.
According to advocate Muhammad Aarif, who was the defence pleader engaged by the Jamiatul Ulema Hind, the cases had been booked in Wazirganj police station in 2007 against Naushad and Jalaluddin in 2007, against Ali Akbar Hussain, Sheikh Mukhtar and Aizur Rahman in Mohanlalganj police station in the same year and Noor Islam Mandal in Unnao (near Kanpur). They were charged of sedition, possessing arms and explosives etc. But the prosecution could not present any viable evidence while pressing the charges leading to their acquittal by Judge Syed Aftab Hussain Rizvi.
Aarif said the police had picked up the accused from various places but were shown as arrested from Wazeerganj and Mohanlalganj police station limits. Previously, advocate Muhammad Shoaib had taken up their defence in the Lucknow and was attacked and assaulted in the court premises by a lobby of advocates who had declared the accused to be criminals. The police had fabricated account of their arrest. Wazeerganj Police had shown to have picked up Naushad and Jalaluddin from near Qaiserbagh Bus Station in Lucknow while being in possession of arms and explosives. Similarly, Sheikh Mukhtar, Ali Akbar Hussain and Azizur Rahman were shown as arrested from Rae Bareli Road under the jurisdiction of Mohanlalganj police station. The police had charged them of gathering at Lucknow on June 22, 2007 for terror activities. They had claimed that following arrest of Naushad and Jalaluddin, other accused had returned to Kolkata. Mohammad Shoaib had brought up evidence that the charges were totally fabricated and false as Azizur Rahman was under the custody of CID West Bengal in those precise dates. He had been presented before the Alipur Court in Kolkata which had put him in police remand till June 26, 2007.
The police had even claimed that they had recovered RDX from Rae Bareli Road on the identification of the spot by the accused. They had even claimed that they were together in the Wazeerganj police station limits and later shown them to have been arrested from different locations. The Police had even claimed that they were active members of Harkat ul Jihad Islam, a name the accused were unaware of as revealed during cross examination.
Jamiatul Ulema Hind has formed several panels of advocates in different cities to pursue the cases of the innocent youth held under false charges of terrorism by the police.
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