Gulzar Ahmed Wani, former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) scholar and suspected Hizbul Mujahideen operative, has been acquitted on 20 May by a court in Barabanki in the 2000 Sabarmati Express blast case.
Wani was arrested on 30 July 2001 from New Delhi on charges of being involved in the terror attack. The police alleged that Wani was in possession of explosives and incriminating material when he was arrested.
According to the counsel for the accused, the court freed Wani and co-accused Mobin due to lack of evidence. Wani has been cleared of all charges in all the ten cases filed against him.
“The court of Additional Sessions Judge MA Khan acquitted both the accused of all the charges as the prosecution could not establish any of the charges levelled against them,” advocate MS Khan told PTI.
Wani is a son of a retired government employee, Ghulam Mohammad, and had come to AMU to complete his studies. Wani was pursuing his PhD in Arabic when he was arrested. He was a resident of Peeparkari area of Srinagar and was lodged in a jail in Lucknow.
The Sabarmati Express blast, which claimed nine lives, was carried out on the eve of Independence Day in 2000 when the train was on its way from Muzaffarpur to Ahmedabad. The blast had occurred in a general compartment of the train when it reached Barabanki on the night of 14 August.
A four-member panel was formed earlier in May this year to monitor the case after the SC expressed strong resentment over Ahmed Wani’s detention.
(With inputs from PTI)
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