Suspects in Israel embassy blast case may not be charged

Nazir Hussain, 26, Zulfikar Ali Wazir, 25, Aiaz Hussain, 28, and Muzammil Hussain, 25 – all residents of Thang village in Kargil district of Ladakh, were arrested in a joint operation by Intelligence Bureau, Kargil police and the Delhi police’s special cell from their village on June 24.

he Delhi police are likely to not file a charge sheet against the four men from Kargil, who were arrested for their alleged role in the blast outside the Israel embassy on January 29.,2021.

An NSG forensics team at the site of the blast. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Nazir Hussain, 26, Zulfikar Ali Wazir, 25, Aiaz Hussain, 28, and Muzammil Hussain, 25 – all residents of Thang village in Kargil district of Ladakh, were arrested in a joint operation by Intelligence Bureau, Kargil police and the Delhi police’s special cell from their village on June 24.

Police file their charge sheet within 60 days and 90 days, depending upon the Indian Penal Code sections used, from the date of arrest.

Officials’ privy to the case details said the police were yet to find any incriminating details, and the four suspects have also cleared the polygraph test conducted in June last week. To be sure, the lie detector test is not admissible evidence in court.

In the coming months, if other agencies also do not find any evidence against them, the Delhi police are likely to file an application to the court seeking their discharge.

“The police did not recover any incriminating evidence or material from them. Only the circumstances and their activities during their day, such as them switching off their phones, speaking over a virtual private network or supporting a group rival to Israel, made the investigating agencies suspects. But the rival group too is not a terror group,” an official said.

However, no senior officer commented on the further course of probe in the case.

Also, one of the four suspects, Nazir Hussain was staying with his parents at their home in Kargil hasn’t visited Delhi.

The four were released on bail by a city court on July 15

The National Investigation Agency is probing the case, and the special cell arrested the suspects on the basis of an FIR registered on February 1 under the Explosives Act and seized their phones and laptops.

Officials privy to the investigation by the NIA said the agency too has also not found any evidence against the men, apart from the one fact that a seemingly fair man, who resembled one of the four arrested men, was seen in the CCTV footage. “If the police do not file a charge sheet, and if NIA also does not find any evidence, it is likely that Delhi police may even file a discharge report before the court under section 169 of CRPC,” one officer said.

On June 15, the NIA released photographs of two suspects involved in the case and announced a reward of ₹10 lakh each on their arrest. NIA is yet to arrest any person in the case.