Cops contradict civil rights group's report

A group of teachers from Jamia Millia Islamia University has prepared a dossier, which documents 16 cases of youths ‘acquitted’ by court after being accused of being operatives of terrorist organisations.

They were charged under anti-terror laws by the Delhi Police special cell. However, police said the claims made by the association are inaccurate.

The Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Action, formed after the Batla House encounter in 2008, released a report ‘Framed, Damned, Acquitted: Dossiers of a Very Special Cell’ on Tuesday highlighting the plight of 16 youth, who were picked up by the special cell, levelling them as terrorists but were acquitted by the court.   

“We present here 16 cases, in which those arrested mainly by the Delhi Police special cell, were accused of being operatives and agents of various terrorist organisations — Al Badr, HUJI and Lashkar — and charged with the most heinous of crimes such as sedition, war against the state, criminal conspiracy, planning and causing bomb blasts and transfer of funds for terrorist activities,” the report stated.

But police contradicted the report. “Six of the 16 cases referred to in the compilation have actually ended in conviction, while one case is pending trial. One case has not been investigated by the special cell at all. Of eight cases that ended in acquittal, in five our appeals are pending against the order of the trial court before the Delhi High Court,” police said.

“The penalties demanded by police and prosecution in these cases were also, correspondingly, the most severe — in most cases life sentence or death penalty.
However, between 1992 and 2012, a large number of those arrested were acquitted of all charges by courts,” the report added.

“In many cases, courts have clearly indicted police for framing innocent people, and reprimanded cops for violating due process and concocting evidence. We are hoping that it will help strengthen the demand for compensation of those wrongfully framed and punishment for guilty policemen,” said Manisha Sethi, JTSA president and professor of Jamia Millia Islamia.