A local court in Gujarat acquitted a computer professional, Bashir Ahmed Baba, from Kashmir, 11 years after he was arrested by the State’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in 2010.
Mr. Baba was accused of conducting a reconnaissance to set up a terror network in the State, by recruiting Muslim youth angry over the 2002 communal riots, for the Pakistan-based Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. He was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the ATS.
The agency also accused him of being in touch with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and one Bilal Ahmed Shera over phone and emails regarding their plans to create a terror network and arrange logistics for it.
However; on June 19, 2021, after a protracted trial in court, he was acquitted of all charges after the prosecution failed to prove its charges with evidence.
The court upheld the arguments of his lawyer contending that the accused had come to Gujarat to attend a four-day training workshop on post-cancer care with an aim to provide such services to patients in the Kashmir valley through the Kimaya Foundation, a voluntary organisation with which he was associated.
A local court in Anand district in its verdict held that the charge that Mr. Baba had received financial aid in order to set up a terror network in Gujarat had not been proven in the absence of any evidence, while the prosecution had also failed to produce any evidence to prove that he had received alleged benefits, or set up a terror module in the State.
“The charge against the accused that he stayed back in Gujarat and was found in Anand on March 13 and that he had received financial aid in order to set up a terror network in Gujarat has not been proven sufficiently, nor has there been any evidence presented to prove that he received such benefits or set up a terror module,” the trial court judge observed in the judgment.
District court judge S.A. Nakum noted, “The prosecution has clearly failed to prove the allegation against the accused. The prosecution has also failed to establish any evidence to prove that he was in touch with the wanted Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commanders.”
