Imam acquitted of terror charges sent back to jail

TESTING TIMES: The state has challenged the imam’s acquittal. He has been sent back to prison as he failed to furnish a surety of Rs 25,000

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: An additional sessions court on Tuesday sent city Haj House Imam Gulam Illahi Yahya Bakhshback to jail after he failed to furnish a surety of Rs 25,000. The court was hearing an application filed by the state government against Bakhsh’s acquittal in a five-year-old terror case.

On January 16, 2010, a Sewri fast-track court acquitted the imam of terror charges due to lack of evidence while sentencing three Kashmiris, nabbed in the same case, to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment.

In January 2006, the antiterrorism squad (ATS) arrested three Kashmiris—Khursheed Gani Lone alias Lala (35), Arshad Gulam Hussain (31) and Ramzan Wahab Qazi (64)—for possessing a foreignmake .32-bore pistol, 20 detonators, five timers and six live cartridges. Bakhsh was arrested a week later. The ATS claimed that Bakhsh had received around Rs 40 lakh through hawala channels and arranged accommodation for Lala, Hussain and Qazi.

A peon at the Haj House, Bakhsh used to lead n a m a zat the mosque inside Haj House. On November 15, 2010, the state government challenged Bakhsh’s acquittal. Bakhsh had been out on bail since January 16, 2010 and had been working at the Haj House since. Bakhsh’s lawyer U S Mirajkar said, “My client was granted bail, but the court rejected our request for cash surety. A surety requires lots of documentation and paper work and therefore it could not be arranged.”

The Times of India, Jul 13, 2011