Confession cracked ’96 bomb blast case

Confession by one of the accused led to the cracking of the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case.

Confession by one of the accused led to the cracking of the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb blast case.

HT Image

Javed Ahmed Khan, a Kathmandu based carpet dealer, had confessed to being part of the conspiracy. On the basis of information provided by him, the police recovered arms and ammunitions and other material related to the bomb blast.

A Kathmandu based carpet dealer, Khan was arrested from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on May 24, 1996.

“Confessions are considered highly reliable because no rational person would make a false statement against his interest unless prompted by his conscience to tell the truth,” said the judge, referring to the SC ruling in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

On July 19, 1996, Khan recorded his confessional statement before a Magistrate in Jaipur.

He explained bit by bit how the conspiracy to conduct a bomb blast in busy Lajpat Nagar market was hatched. He minutely explained the role of all the accused.

The court noted that he could not explain the reason for his stay in Satyam Hotel, Delhi on May 14, 1996, prior to the bomb blasts. Javed said he travelled to Delhi to deliver a suitcase filled with explosives and other arms and ammunition.

Mohammed Naushad, a resident of Old Delhi, had confessed that he had helped the other accused to purchase the raw material required to make the bomb.

Khan told the Magistrate that Mirza Nissar Hussain played a key role in supervising individual roles of all the accused.

“Mostly, the conspiracy was proved by the circumstantial evidence,” said the judge. The court noted that Rs 1 Lakh was also recovered from one Mangal Das during the probe.

Police slammed for defective investigation

The judge in the 297 page judgement said, “On scanning of the file, it transpires that investigation conducted by the

police in this case is highly defective. At no stage the police opted to put any of the accused for the Test Identification Parade.”

Pulling up the Investigating Officer, ACP P.P. Singh, the court said that he did not appear as a witness before this case.

The court also noted that even the public prosecutor complained about non-cooperation from the police officials.

“No efforts were made during last 14 years to apprehend the co-accused, who were later declared proclaimed offender,” the court said.

The four co-accused — Mirza Iftikhar, Latif Ahmed Waza, Syed Maqbool Shah and Abdul Gani — were acquitted of all the charges for want of evidence.