Mumbai court upholds acquittal of five ‘SIMI members’

During the trial, defence lawyers had contended that the police had falsely implicated the men and had allegedly planted articles on the accused shown to be seized from them.

A sessions court has dismissed the state’s appeal against the acquittal of five persons, arrested soon after the Mumbai train blasts in 2006 on charges including membership of banned organisation SIMI.

The chief metropolitan magistrate court last year acquitted the five, which the state appealed against in the sessions court.

Irfan Sayed, Najeeb Bakali, Firoz Ghaswala, Mohammed Ali Chand and Imran Ansari were arrested by Unit 11 of the Mumbai crime branch following the train blasts based on alleged information about them being active members of SIMI.

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During the trial, defence lawyers had contended that the police had falsely implicated the men and had allegedly planted articles on the accused shown to be seized from them.

In their appeal, the police had claimed that the lower court failed to appreciate the strong circumstances proving the offence. They argued the court wrongly held that sanction to prosecute the accused under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act was not as per provisions. On Friday, the sessions court confirmed the lower court’s findings.

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