Forum for Release of Imprisoned Innocent “terrorists”

Forum for Release of Imprisoned Innocent “terrorists”

Latoos Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, 14^th August 2012/ Aatankwaad ke Naam pe Quaed Nirdoshiyon ka Rihaai Manch condoned the charging of Azamgarh’s Bada Sajid in the Pune blast case saying this was a shameful expression of the defence agencies’ communal bias towards Muslims. PUCL state secretary Masihuddin Sanjari and Tariq Shafeeq said that this was an attempt to discredit Azamgarh. The Forum’s convener, advocate Muhammad Shoaib, human rights leaders Shahnawaz Alam and Rajiv Yadav claimed that it’s common knowledge that the Pune bomb went off/were found in one Patil’s bags but the Mumbai ATS refuses to even consider him a suspect. The ATS even went on to first claim that the blast was a handiwork of mischief-makers, all in an attempt to shield the person the bomb was found with. They observed that the Mumbai ATS had turned a blind eye to the terror activities of Hindtva groups in the Pune blasts. The leaders demanded a high level enquiry into the links between Mumbai ATS and Hindutva terror organizations and said that the ATS, aided by certain media groups, nabbed Bada Sajid, helping Patil and the Hindutva groups get away scot-free.

They cited an incident of the innocent Faiz Usmani who was taken away for interrogation and subjected to third-degree torture leading to his custodial death. Comparing it to Patil’s case, where he wasn’t even considered a suspect even after a bomb was found in his belongings. According to them, it proves that under Rakesh Maria’s leadership, the Mumbai ATS working in tandem with Saffron terror organizations has got the country’s security at stake. They went on to add that if that the relationship is in fact probed, it will unravel the mysteries of many other blasts apart from the Pune one. The leaders asserted that the Pune blasts were an attempt to take away public attention from the ATS’s role in the mysterious custodial murder of Qateel Siddiqui in Yervada jail.