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Bangalore: After a six-month
ordeal of being branded terrorists and charged with waging a war
against the state, two of the fifteen arrested suspects,
Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui, a journalist who was working with Deccan
Herald, and Syed Yusuf Nalaband walked
to freedom late Monday night.
The Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on
Monday issued a detailed written order on the release of the two
accused of involvement in the Bangalore terror module case,
according to coastaldigest.com.
The NIA had earlier dropped all the charges against the two saying
it had found no prosecutable evidence against them.
Justice Somnath R Sindhagi issued detailed written orders
regarding the release of the Siddiqui and Nalaband by 5:15 pm on
Monday.
However, by the time the orders reached Parappana Agrahara
Central Prisons, it was 7 pm.
After waiting for three hours, Siddiqui and Nalaband were released by 10 pm, greeted by the
media, activists and journalists, the coastaldigest reported
Tuesday.
An emotional Siddiqui termed his experience a terrible ordeal and
said it should not happen to anybody ever again.
He said that if
he, who had been branded the mastermind of the terror conspiracy,
was acquitted honourably, he hoped that all the other friends
arrested along with him would also walk free one day.
“I hope nobody goes through what I did. Only I know the pain I
went through,” Siddiqui told media persons as he was surrounded by
a jubilant group comprising his colleagues from the daily as well
as journalists from other newspapers who had shared the beat with
him.
He said he had confidence in the judiciary and thanked the
Almighty, those who stood by him during the difficult time and the
activists of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, who
fought his case from Day One.
Nalaband also said he was greatly relieved after his release from
the prison.
Karnataka Police had in August 2012 arrested nine people,
along with Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui who was working with Deccan
Herald as journalist, for alleged links with terrorist outfits.
The
families of the accused had expressed shock and disbelief over their arrests on charges of
links with banned terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and
Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam (Huji) and plotting terror attacks in the
state.
Attawur Rehman, brother of Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui,
after his arrest had said,
"After the death of our parents five-six years ago, Muthi-ur
Rehman came to Bangalore to do post-graduate diploma in journalism
and joined the English daily (Deccan Herald) as a reporter. We
just can't believe that he could be involved in such activities as
he lives simply and works hard to make both ends meet."
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