JOIN USLajpat Nagar bomb accused acquitted after 24 years
Three Srinagar residents, who spent 23 years in prison after being convicted in the Lajpat Nagar blast case, have finally been acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court.
One of them, Ali Muhammad Bhat, went straight to his father's grave after being released, a video of which has gone viral on the internet.
Kashmir summed up for you. Released after 23 years for no crime of his, Ali Mohammed Bhat visits his father's grave right after touching down in Srinagar.
— Saqib Mugloo (@Saqibmugloo) July 24, 2019
This is beyond heartbreaking. #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/MGBUInQcxz
The acquitted were identified as Lateef Ahmad Waza, Mirza Nisar Hussain and Ali Muhammad Bhatt, all residents of Srinagar city. According to the trio, they were first acquitted by the Delhi High Court and then Jaipur High Court in the cases related to dumping of arms and ammunition in the Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case. They were arrested in 1996 and served imprisonment in Rajasthan and Tihar jails for 23 years. As per the trio, they were never released on parole or bail ever since they were arrested in 1996, the Greater Kashmir news portal reported.
1Muhammad Ali Bhat, son of Sher Ali Bhat, a resident of Hassanabad, Rainawari. Ali lost both parents while he was in prison.“He was arrested in 1996 and was lodged in Tihar till 2014 and then shifted to Jaipur jail where they were lodged till July 24, 2019,” a family member told Brighter Kashmir.
The Rajasthan High Court said the prosecution had failed to provide evidence of a conspiracy. The Court said the prosecution could not establish any link between them and the main accused, Dr Abdul Hameed, whose death sentence was upheld, the report added.
The attack occurred on May 21, 1996, when a bomb blast rocked the Lajpat Nagar market in Delhi, killing 13 civilians and injuring 39 others.