Pune, July 21 (PTI) “I would just like to say thank you to all, especially the judiciary”, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh said while struggling to comprehend the sudden turn his life has taken after the Bombay High Court acquitted him and 11 others in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case.
As the feeling of freedom gradually dawned on him, Shaikh thanked the “hukumat” (government), the judges and the team of lawyers who fought for him.
He and three others walked out of the Amravati Central Jail in the evening.
To a query whether he had any demands from the government, Shaikh said he had none.
“I would just like to say thank you to all,” said Sheikh, who is now in his late 50s.
“After nearly 19 to 20 years (in jail), we are being released today. We have a lot of faith in the ‘hukumat’ (government) and the court, and that faith worked for us. We had no involvement in this case.
“The sessions court should have freed us, but we got freedom from the High Court. We thank the hukumat, the judges and the team of lawyers who fought for us,” Shaikh, who hails from Pune, told reporters.
“I was falsely accused of having links with the SIMI (the banned Students Islamic Movement of India),” he said with no bitterness in his voice.
By Monday night, seven of the 12 persons acquitted by the Bombay High Court were released from jails in Nagpur, Amravati and Pune, officials said.
About 700 kms away in Pune, the kin of civil engineer Asif Khan Bashir Khan were elated to receive him after he walked out of the Yerwada Central Prison.
“My brother was arrested, but from day one, we knew that he was innocent and he was framed in the case. We all were sure that he would be acquitted in the case, and today all 12 people were acquitted,” said Asif’s brother Abdul.
Yerwada Central Prison superintendent Pallavi Kadam told PTI that one of the two persons was released from the prison facility in the evening.
“Asif Khan Bashir Khan, and Mohammed Faisal Rahman Shaikh, were lodged in Yerwada jail. Asif alias Junaid was released, while Shaikh is still in jail as there is another case pending against him,” said Kadam.
Abdul said his brother was arrested 19 years ago when his daughter was four years old.
“Today, she is married and has become a mother. Asif’s elder son is also married,” Abdul said, lamenting that time stood still for 19 years for the family.
“Asif could not even come to the weddings of his children. Today, the entire family is very happy and we are taking him home,” he added.
Asif used to work as a civil engineer in Jalgaon.
“We are grateful to the judiciary and the legal aide who represented him in the court. We were not in a position to even hire a good lawyer,” his brother added.
Suhail Shaikh’s brother Rahil Shaikh reminisced about the unwavering faith his brother placed in the judiciary, irrespective of hardships and stigma faced by him and his kin for 19 long years.
“We had all lost hope, but my brother never did,” Rahil said, moments after the verdict that ended an ordeal spanning nearly two decades and lifted the long-standing stigma on their family.
The High Court quashed the conviction of 12 persons in the July 11, 2006 Mumbai train blasts case and acquitted them, noting the prosecution had “utterly failed” to prove the case against them.
On July 11, 2006, seven blasts ripped through Mumbai local trains at various locations on the Western Line, killing more than 180 people and injuring several others.
“Today, we are all happy after hearing the verdict of the Bombay High Court. We had lost hope, but my brother never did. Even during the judgement by the lower court, which convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment, he kept telling us he had done nothing wrong and urged us to have faith in the judiciary, saying the truth would prevail,” Rahil, who works at a fabrication unit in Pune’s Kondhwa, told PTI.
Suhail Shaikh, who earlier worked as a rafoo (fabric repair) artist and also acted as a faith healer, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for his alleged involvement in the coordinated blasts.
Rahil said the arrest of his brother changed the lives of the entire family, including Suhail’s wife and three children.
“We lost our parents over the years. Stigma followed us everywhere. I had to change dozens of jobs. Suhail’s wife, two sons, daughter, and my own family faced immense hardships. Important documents like the ration card and LPG connection were seized by the investigation agencies, making day-to-day life difficult,” Rahil said, choking up with emotion.
He said that while justice was delayed, it had finally been delivered.
“We lost hope after the lower court convicted all 12 accused. But my brother never wavered. He kept saying that since he had done nothing wrong, justice would prevail. And today, his words have come true,” he said. PTI SPK COR CLS NSK
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