Bashir Ahmad Baba had gone to Gujarat for a post-cancer care training. He was detained under UAPA
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Bashir Ahmad Baba, a resident of Srinagar, has returned home after spending eleven years in a Gujarat jail. Arrested by the Gujarat Police on terror charges, the IT professional was acquitted by a Vadodara court which held that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against Baba under the under controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
On June 19, the court upheld the defence argument that Baba was visiting Gujarat to attend a four-day camp on post-cancer care, so as to provide such services to patients in the Valley through the Kimaya Foundation, of which he was a part. The 43-year-old Ahmad, who was arrested on March 13, 2010, reached his home in Rainawari, Srinagar, on June 23.
On March 13, 2010, a day before he was scheduled to return home, the anti-terrorism squad of Gujarat Police arrested Baba from Anand district, accusing him of visiting the state to establish a network of young people for “terror training”. He was charged of being an affiliate of the terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen.
The police also alleged that Baba was in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and one Bilal Ahmed Shera over phone and emails. He was sent to Vadodara Central Jail after being in anti-terrorism squad custody for 16 days, according to media reports.
Over the next 11 years, his lawyers defended Baba, contending that he was in Gujarat to attend a camp on post-cancer care to provide services to patients in the Kashmir Valley. His counsel, Khalid Shaikh, said a Srinagar doctor had recommended that he attends the camp.
In 2017, Bashir lost his father to cancer while being himself in prison.
According to Indian Express, in an 87-page verdict, the 4th Additional Sessions Judge of Anand District Court S A Nakum said, “The charge against the accused that he stayed back in Gujarat and was found in Anand on March 13 and that he had received financial aid in order to set up a terror network in Gujarat has not been proven sufficiently, nor has there been any evidence presented to prove that he received such benefits or set up a terror module. The prosecution has clearly failed to prove the allegation against the accused. The prosecution has also failed to establish any evidence to prove that he was in touch with the wanted Hizbul Mujahideen commanders.”
