Allahabad High Court Thursday has granted bail to two Muslim men, Mohd Mustaqeem and Mohammad Shakeel, who were arrested in connection with a pressure cooker bomb case in Lucknow. They had been held in custody for 597 days prior to being granted bail.
The two Muslim men were arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police Anti Terrorism Squad on 14 July 2021 and they were later handed over to National Investigation Agency.
The bail was granted on the condition that the individuals would cooperate with the investigation.
Lawyers Furkan Pathan, Arif Ali and Mujahid Ahmed were appeared for the Muslim men in High Court.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) was providing legal help to the jailed Muslim men.
Lawyers Saif Ali and Nooruddin Khan had appeared for them in session courts.
The Uttar Pradesh Police and NIA have been claiming that these Muslim men are associated with Al-Qaeda-supported Ansar Ghazwatul Hind.
NIA has filed a chargesheet against six arrested accused: Minhaj Ahmad, Museeruddin, Shakeel, Moid, Mustaqeem and
Tawheed Ahmad.
ATS had claimed that the accused were planning to trigger blasts around Independence Day celebrations in 2021.
The families of Muslim youth while speaking to Maktoob, outrightly denied the allegations made by the investigation agency and maintained that their kin are being falsely framed as terrorists with no firm evidence against them.
“Our life took a turn for the worse when the cops arrested my husband on terror charges,” Ambreen, Shakeel’s wife had said.
“He has a clean record and never got involved in criminal activity in the past. He is being framed because of being from a particular community,” Shakeel’s brother Iliyas had said. 35 year old Shakeel was earning a livelihood by driving an e-rickshaw.
“He (Shakeel) picked up passengers for Rs 5 to feed his family. If he was working for a terror outfit, why would he be so poor. These charges have been framed with politics in mind,” he further said.
Mustaqeem’s wife while speaking to Maktoob, discharged the ‘terror charges’ on her husband and said she had only her husband to support her.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH), the prominent Muslim organisation and Association for the Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), a civil rights advocacy group had Earle said they will provide legal assistance to Muslim youth.
