Thursday, March 28, 2024

“My son has lost 13 precious years”: Mother of Muslim man acquitted in Ahmedabad blast case

 “My son has lost 13 precious years (of his life). He got justice but it is delayed,” says Jahida Khatun, a 75-year-old woman of Jharkhand whose son was acquitted in the case related to the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts.

Khatun was speaking to the PTI news agency, a day after a special court in Ahmedabad convicted 49 people and acquitted 28 people following 13 years of trial.

Khatun’s son Manzar Imam spent 13 years in jail and was slapped with charges under the draconian UAPA and charges of murder, attempt to murder, and criminal conspiracy.

The 75-year-old Muslim woman said her husband could not come out of the shock and died a year after the arrest of their son.

While speaking to PTI, Manzar’s brother Mohammad Safdar Imam rued that after he was branded “terrorist,” they were socially boycotted and even the children of the family could not get admission to any good school.

“We request the government to expedite court trials so that innocent are not punished,” said Safdar.

He also claimed that his brother Manzar has not even gone to Gujarat even once.

“He had been framed in the case,” Safdar said.

Manzar Imam was a gold medalist in his university in 2007. He completed the post-graduation in Urdu from Ranchi University in 2007.

A photograph accessed by Dainik Jagaran showed that Manzar Imam was receiving an award of honor from then-governor Syed Sibtey Razi. Then union minister Arjun Singh was also seen in the photograph.

Safdar said now the whole family is eagerly waiting for the release of Manzar, now lodged in Tihar Jail.

The verdict comes after a protracted trial that lasted almost 13 years. The trial in the case ended in September last year. 

Judge A R Patel acquitted Naved, Raziuddin, Umar, Salim, Zakir, Mubin, Mansoor, Saqib, E T Sainuddi, Anwar Bagban, Yasin, Irfan, Nasir, Asdullah, Shakil, Nadim, Shami, Dr. Ahmed Beg, Kamran, Zahir, Yunus, Hasib Raza, Habib, M Shahid, A Sattar, Afaq Iqbal, Manzar and Suhaib on Tuesday.

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