“I direct Ansari and Shaikh to be released forthwith,” said the judge disbelieving the prosecution story of how the duo facilitated the attack by supplying allegedly at LeT’s behest, a hand-drawn map of terror targets to the gunmen. Not mincing words, the judge said he found the entire evidence against the accused ‘highly doubtfull’. The police have said in the court that Ansari who had rented a flat near Badhwar Park (in South Mumbai) more than a year before the 26/11 attack had sketched some maps that were delivered to LeT commanders in Kathmandu by Shaikh.
“I feel the whole theory of the map being given by Ansari to Sabahunddin in Nepal, then the crude map being found unsoiled in the blood soaked pocket of a dead terrorist’s trousers is unbelievable…especially when the conspirators were relying on advance technology like GPS and VOIP all along,” he said “..Why would the LeT commanders rely on crude maps drawn by Ansari when sophisticated versions of the same work are easily available on websites like Google earth and Wikimapia? All pieces of evidence against Ansari and Shaikh fall short of the standards laid down by the Supreme Court.”
The acquittal of Faheem and Sabahundeen has totally smashed the police theory of involvement of home players in 26/11 attack and that too of Indian Muslims. Had the Court accepted the Police theory of duo’s involvement in this conspiracy, it would have created havoc for Indian Muslims. We remember the aftermath of Batla House encounter which had created a wide spread scare in the minds of Muslims and they had become very defensive. No doubt the genuineness of this encounter is a matter of great controversy and UPA government has refused to institute a judicial probe. It has been happening after every terrorist incident.
As we know there is a general accusation against Muslims being involved in terrorist activities. There is a floating dictum that “All the Muslims area not terrorists but all the terrorists are Muslims.” The result is that a large number of Muslim Youth have been framed in various cases and are languishing in jails for long years. It has been found that most of them are innocent. They suffer long trials and are ultimately acquitted for lack of evidence as has happened in the case of Faheem and Sabahuddin.
Now Uttar Pradesh Police, which claims to have given the inputs of LeT’s ensuing attack and involvement of Faheem and Sabahuddin in this conspiracy to Bombay police in advance, is also in the dock and its image has been badly slurred. It has now claimed that even if they have been acquitted in this case, they will pin them down in Rampur CRPF Camp terrorist attack. No doubt the genuineness of this attack has been questioned by various human rights organizations. UP Police has labeled Faheem to be the master mind of this case. This statement is quite intriguing and misleading. It is a fact that Faheem is not the accused at all in this case. Of course Sabahudin’s name figures in this charge sheet. This shows how police sullies the name of Muslims to defame them and creates an atmosphere of hate and mistrust in the general public.
The acquittal of Faheem and Sabahuddin has come as a breather for Indian Muslims otherwise it would have given the Hindutva fanatics an other chance to label Indian Muslims as collaborators of foreign enemies like Pakistan, LeT and others. This verdict has also enhanced the reputation of Indian judiciary and strengthened common man’s faith in it. (CNS)
SR Darapuri, is a Fellow of Citizen News Service (CNS) Writers' Bureau, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer (former Inspector General (IG) of Police), Vice-President of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), UP, and also represents the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) and Lok Rajniti Manch (People's Politics Front). Email: srdarapuri@yahoo.co.in. website: www.citizen-news.org