New Delhi: Reemphasising that accused individuals are entitled to bail if investigators fail to file a chargesheet within the mandated 180-day period from the date of arrest, a Delhi court on Monday granted bail to three men arrested for allegedly being part of a “terror module” linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur of Patiala House Court Monday ordered the release of the three men from Ranchi—Umar Farooq, Hasan Ansari, and Arshad Khan. They were arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell on 22 August last year in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi district for allegedly receiving arms training as part of a terror module.
In August, the Delhi Police’s specialised counterterrorism unit, in collaboration with the Jharkhand Anti-Terrorist Squad, busted a terror module allegedly led by Ranchi-based radiologist Dr Ishtiyaq Ahmed. The Special Cell had arrested 11 suspects, including Ishtiyaq from Ranchi and the three men later granted bail from Bhiwadi. All of them have remained in judicial custody since their arrest.
Eight of the 11 suspects including Ishtiyaq were chargesheeted by special cell Monday while one Shahbaz Ansari was arrested earlier in January of this year and police have stipulated time left to file chargesheet against him.
“Admittedly, applicant/accused persons, namely, Umar Farooq, Hasan Ansari and Arshad Khan have been arrested on 22.08.2024. Despite lapse of statutory time period of 180 days, the charge-sheet in the instant matter has not been filed against them. Ld. Addl. PP submits that the investigation qua them is still pending. In my considered opinion, there is no embargo on the powers of the investigating agency to investigate the matter further, however, after the lapse of statutory time, the accused persons are entitled for statutory bail,” Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur observed in the order.
The investigators arrested one Shahbaz Ansari earlier in January of this year, who is in judicial custody.
Sources in the Special Cell suggested they were not charged because of “lack of evidence” so far and that investigation concerning their involvement in the particular terror module was still not “concluded”.
On the other hand, Advocate Abu Bakr Sabbaq, who has represented all accused persons arrested in the case, demanded accountability from Delhi Police over three people languishing in jail for 6 months despite investigators not having “anything to charge them”.
“This group of men were arrested from Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi on allegations of taking arms training as part of a so-called terror module. They have been languishing in jail for 6 months now, and the Police are unable to find anything to charge them for offences they were arrested for in August last year. There has to be some accountability. The bail to them is a bare minimum justice that we have sought so far,” Sabbaq said to ThePrint.
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They torture the captured men no end, turn them into nervous wrecks and then release them for “lack of evidence” – this is the modus operandi of the criminal police to tarnish the image of educated Muslims and destroy their lives for eternity.