A special court has acquitted six accused alleged to be members of banned terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami for want of sufficient evidence.
A special court has acquitted six accused alleged to be members of banned terror outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami for want of sufficient evidence. They were arrested by the UP Special Task Force in 2007 and were in jail since then.
Special judge S.A.H. Rizvi observed in his order that the prosecution could not lay before him any evidence which could prove involvement of the accused in the terror activities in the country.
“The recovery of the AK-47 and other ammunition also appeared to have been planted with the accused in order to book them in false cases,” he said. The acquitted persons include Mr Jalaluddin, Mr Naushad, Mr Mohammad Ali Akbar Hussain, Mr Aziz-ur-Rahman Sardar, Mr Sheikh Mukhtar and Mr Noor Islam.
In the 51-page-verdict, the judge held that the prosecution could not place any evidence to show complicity of the accused in the terror acts or connection of the terror accused with HuJI.
“The only evidence available on record is the confessional statement of the accused but that is not sufficient for conviction because the prosecution fails to prove the recovery at the instance of the arrested accused,” the order said.
The court said that from record it is evident that the STF picked up the accused from different locations but showed recovery from other places. The whole evidence is unbelievable and appears to have been planted. There are serious contradictions in the recovery and the statements of the prosecution witnesses, the court stated. The STF had claimed that it arrested Mr Jalaluddin and Mr Naushad from Residency area on June 22, 2007, on a tip off. It recovered AK-47, two magazines, 60 cartridges and a bag from his possession. The bag also had ten detonators, five hand grenades, nine volt battery, alarm clock and some documents.
A pistol, two live cartridges, four empty cartridges, a bag containing 15 hand grenades and high grade explosives were recovered from the possession of Naushad.
