A year later, Delhi blasts trial yet to begin

A year after five synchronised bomb blasts in the capital killed 26 people, the trial in the case is yet to begin despite the police filing a chargesheet against 30 persons. The delay in the trial of the Sep 13, 2008 blasts has prolonged the agony of the kin of the deceased and the injured.

A year after five synchronised bomb blasts in the capital killed 26 people, the trial in the case is yet to begin.

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The delay in the trial of the Sep 13, 2008 blasts has prolonged the agony of the kin of the deceased and the injured.

The police have filed a chargesheet against 30 persons for the serial attacks. Of them, 12 have been arrested while two more suspects were killed in south Delhi's Batla House gunfight Sep 19 last year; 16 others are absconding.

They have been charged with murder, attempt to murder and waging war against the state, besides other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

The police have so far looked in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Mumbai and Karnataka for the absconding people.

"We have also declared a reward of Rs.1 lakh (Rs.100,000) each for the absconding accused but none has been arrested so far," said a senior police official.

As for evidence, the investigators have mobile phone records, fake voter identity cards used by the accused, incriminating material recovered from their laptop computers and also some crucial MMS clips that were found in the mobile phones of one suspect.

The chargesheet names Pakistan-based man Abu al-Qama as the mastermind of the serial blasts, who is also wanted for the 2005 serial blasts in the capital.

Saquib Nisar, Mohammad Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Zia-ur Rehman and Mohammad Shakeel were arrested from the Batla House area after the blasts last year. Eight supplementary chargesheets have also been filed in the case.

Some believe that the delay in commencement of the trial is because human rights groups had raised fingers at the police for the gunfight at Batla House. It was after the Delhi High Court's intervention that a probe in it was conducted by the National Human Rights Commission and the Delhi police got a clean chit.