Eleven years after the twin blasts in Hyderabad and nine years after they were arrested, Farooq Sharfuddin Tarkish and Mohd Sadiq Israr Shaik were found not guilty in the 2007 case on Tuesday. In the wake of this verdict, several questions have been raised about the investigations in the case, and about incarceration of people for long periods of time without conviction.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said, “Nobody will talk about what will happen to these two people, who have lost nine years after being imprisoned.” Owaisi said that there was no closure and justice for the victims, who lost their lives and suffered injuries in the blasts. He further said that the agencies must carry out a thorough investigation and also arrest the main culprits.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “FAROOQ & SADIQ have been in prison from 2009 & after 9 years Court finds them NOT GUILTY acquits them & their Lawyer ABDUL Azeem tells me evidence was circumstantial & eyewitnesses who where found after 1 yr of offence No closure/Justice for victims families Pain continues.” (sic)
FAROOQ & SADIQ have been in prison from 2009 & after 9 years Court finds them NOT GUILTY acquits them & their Lawyer ABDUL Azeem tells me evidence was circumstantial & eyewitnesses who where found after 1 yr of offence
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 4, 2018
No closure/Justice for victims families
Pain continues https://t.co/Ds3IqINWn9
On Tuesday, the special court found two accused – Aneeq Shafique Sayeed and Ismail Chaudhary – guilty in the case. The court will announce the quantum of the punishment on Monday. It will also be hearing the case of the other accused, Tariq Anjum, arrested in a separate case related to the blast.
Spokesperson of Majlis Bachao Tehreek, Amjed Ullah Khan, slammed the National Investigation Agency and said that they should be held accountable. “Today the court has acquitted two persons, so the question arises: In India several bomb blasts are taking place and Muslim youth are not only arrested on suspicion but also given third degree torture and incarcerated for years together; and later released after the court doesn’t find them guilty. So, we should know, how did the investigation agency get to know that they were involved in the crime? How did the police get into the loop? There’s no investigation on this,” he said.
“Till today, how many Muslim men have been made scapegoats? No Muslim organisation has ever filed a complaint against the policemen in question in a court of law, due to fear of backlash. This will continue,” he said.
“No justice has been done for those who died in Mecca Masjid blast, Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park blast, whether it is Muslim or Hindus, no justice has been done,” he said.
About the blast
On August 25, 2007, two improvised explosive devices exploded within five minutes of each other in Hyderabad. The first bomb blast took place in Lumbini Park near Secretariat during a laser show, followed by the second blast at Gokul Chat located at Koti at 7.50 pm. The blasts claimed 42 lives and severely injured more than 50 people.
The Counter Intelligence (CI) wing of the Telangana Police, the investigation agency, claimed that the banned outfit – Indian Mujahideen (IM) headed by its founders Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal were responsible for the blasts. Both of them have been absconding.