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Delhi
blasts accused was minor, mother tells court
The mother of Salman Ahmad, a suspected Indian Mujahideen
terrorist and Delhi serial blast accused, told a city court Thursday
that his date of birth recorded in a Mumbai school was the correct
one.
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Records show two dates of birth for Delhi
blast accused
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New Delhi:
A city court on February
05 Saturday discharged Azamgarh native Mohammed Salman of his
alleged involvement in the 2008 Delhi serial blasts case.
Salman, branded an Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative for over two
years, was acquitted because the court found that the Delhi
Police's special cell had failed to submit credible evidence to
prove his complicity.
Though acquitted in the Delhi serial blasts, Salman is still a
suspect in the Jaipur and Ahmedabad blast cases.
The five synchronised bomb blasts killed 26 people in the capital
and left 50 others injured. The blasts occurred at crowded areas
in Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and Greater
Kailash-I.
The court will, however, frame charges against 13 other accused in
the case - Mohd Shakeel, Mohd Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Zia- ur- Rehman,
Saquib Nisar, Mohd Sadique, Kayamuddin Kapadia, Mohd Hakim, Mohd
Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, Mubeen Kadar Sheikh, Asif Bashiruddin,
Mohd Akbar Ismail Chaudhary and Shahzad Ahmed.
The charges will be formally framed on February 21.
Salman was picked up by the Uttar Pradesh anti- terrorism squad (
ATS) in Siddharth Nagar near the Indo- Nepal border on March 6,
2010. The ATS had alleged that Salman was trained in Pakistan to
handle weapons and explosives, and was aware of the Delhi blasts
conspiracy. He was later handed over to the Delhi Police.
Hailed Salman's acquittal as a " triumph of truth", Jamia Teachers
Solidarity Association (JTSA) said public prosecutor Raju Mohan -
responding to specific questions by the judge regarding the
evidence against Salman - was unable to produce anything to
substantiate the prosecution's claim.
In a statement issued Saturday evening, the JTSA said, "It is to
be noted that Salman was a minor at the time of the blasts and,
even if accused, ought to have been tried under the Juvenile
Justice Act ( his high school certificate clearly shows his date
of birth as October 3, 1992."
"The police were well aware of this fact. But in order to mislead
the court, they deliberately planted a photocopy of the forged
passport and health card. If indeed, the health card and forged
passports had been found on the person of Salman, why did the
police not book him under the relevant charges at the time of his
arrests?"
The Jamia teachers also pointed out that the transcripts of
Salman's conversations with Atif Amin were described as "normal
conversations between two boys" by the court. The judge described
the intercepted conversations between them as "flippant" and said
the phone was not in the name of Salman," said a teachers.
Meanwhile, P. N. Aggarwal, special commissioner of police (
special cell) while declining to comment on the judgment said, "I
cannot comment anything about the police action at the moment. We
are yet to get a copy of the judgment."
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