Bengaluru, Oct 18: Maulana Syed Anzar Shah Khasmi, a city-based outspoken cleric, who was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Delhi police nearly two years ago on suspicion of terror links, was finally acquitted by a Delhi court.
During charge proceedings, Additional Sessions Judge Siddhartha Sharma discharged Qasmi stating that there was not sufficient evidence against him. However, the other accused in the case — Mohammad Asif, Abdul Rehman and Zafar Masood — were charged under sections of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
The case dates back to December 2015, when the main accused Asif (41), who hailed from Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district, was arrested from Delhi’s Seelampur flyover where he had allegedly gone to meet a contact.
Investigators suspected that he was sent to India by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri for recruiting youths for an Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) module. Three mobile phones, a laptop and other incriminating articles were seized from his possession, Delhi Police Special Cell had said.
Khasmi was arrested in January 2016 as his mobile number was there in Asif’s seized mobile. Khasmi’s advocate M S Khan said that evidence against Khasmi was fabricated and hence he was discharged.
“It was alleged that Khasmi had met Asif and that a letter was supplied to him for recruiting members of AQIS. Police had said that the meeting with Asif was based on a testimony of an eyewitness who could not prove the meeting in the court. Khasmi did not know the other accused and the police could not recover the letter being given to him.”
Khan said the police had also alleged that Khasmi had been giving sermons asking people to join AQIS, which was a baseless allegation. “There was no evidence to substantiate this claim,” he added.
Also Read: Clerics rubbish terror link allegations on Khasmi; demand CM’s intervention
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