Team Clarion
AHMEDABAD – A sessions court in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad has acquitted three Muslims in a case related to the 2006 bomb blast at Kalupur railway station noting a lack of evidence against them.
The three exonerated men were identified as Mohammed Amir Shaikh, Aquib Saiyed and Aslam Khashmiri. The first two were arrested in 2006. Kashimiri was taken into custody in 2009.
In the verdict delivered on Monday, Additional Sessions Judge SL Thakkar observed “…There is no evidence from any witness that suggests the accused played any role in planning or executing the bomb blast. Similarly, the documentary evidence presented by the complainant does not seem to support their allegations.”
According to defence advocate Khalid Shaikh, even though the three men were acquitted, only Kashmiri will be able to get out of jail. Shaikh and Sayed are serving life sentences in other cases in Amravati and Ahmedabad jails.
The blast case was being investigated by the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS). According to the details of the case presented by the ATS, a bag with RDX and a timer was placed on Karnavati Express originating from Mumbai. It had exploded at Kalupur station leaving 10-15 passengers injured. The explosives were planted on the train by a porter at the direction of a railway police constable, Kamlesh Bhagora.
Bhagora was made an accused and booked on the charges of negligence in duty and for being part of a conspiracy with anti-national elements. However, in 2013, he was acquitted along with another accused.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.