A special court in Mumbai acquitted an alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative on Friday in connection with a 2010 case involving an email sent to the United Kingdom-based BBC news channel on behalf of the banned outfit, warning of terror strikes in New Delhi.
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MAHARASHTRA: A special court in Mumbai has acquitted Ajaz Saeed Shaikh, an alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative, in connection with a 2010 case involving an email sent to the BBC news channel in the United Kingdom.
The email, sent on behalf of the banned outfit, warned of impending terror strikes in New Delhi.
Shaikh was initially arrested in 2014 by the Delhi special cell for his alleged involvement in the Jama Masjid attack case and was later transferred to the custody of Mumbai police. At the time of his arrest, Shaikh was 30 years old and known by various aliases, including Sameer, Samar, Sagar, Amar, Ibrahim, and Wasim. Hailing from Pune, Shaikh worked in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector and was considered tech-savvy.
The case against Shaikh was registered on October 10, 2010, after an email was sent to the BBC news channel, warning of terror strikes in the national capital. The investigation indicated that the email originated from South Mumbai, prompting the Cyber Cell to register an FIR. The police later identified Shaikh as the sender of the email from his mobile phone.
Shaikh faced charges of forgery for obtaining a SIM card under another person’s name and using it to send the threat mail.
Advocate Hasnain Kazi, representing Shaikh, argued that the prosecution failed to account for the nearly five-year delay in the investigation from the date of the FIR’s registration. Kazi asserted that Shaikh was made a scapegoat due to the investigating authority’s inability to find the real culprit. He also pointed out investigative and procedural lapses, such as the lack of statements from BBC personnel regarding the email.
Despite his acquittal in this case, Shaikh will remain in prison as he is also in custody for the 2011 Zaveri Bazar blasts case and faces the death penalty in the 2013 Hyderabad Dilsukhnagar blasts case.
The detailed order in the email threat case is yet to be released.
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