Verdict likely in ‘terror’ case that has police, CBI in conflict

Verdict is likely Monday in a case over which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Delhi police have been at loggerheads, reports Sumit Saxena.

Verdict is likely Monday in a case over which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Delhi police have been at loggerheads.

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Delhi police has alleged two accused it arrested in February 2006 are Al-badr terrorists, while the CBI claim they are police informers.

The CBI has filed a closure report in court stating no concrete evidence was found against Maorif Qumar and Irshad Ali linking them to terrorist activities.

Defence counsel Sufian Siddique said Qumar and Ali had been falsely implicated in an Explosives and Arms Act case. Siddique alleged officers from the Special Cell of Delhi police and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) kidnapped Qumar and Ali because the two refused to visit Jammu and Kashmir to gather information on terrorist activities. Police later registered a case against them.

However, Delhi police claims to have evidence of call details certified by the service provider, stating no police officer was present when Ali and Qumar were kidnapped in December 2005. A source added the CBI had not collected the call details of different mobile phones involved in the case, and were yet to identify where Qumar and Ali were kept by the police.

Investigations were handed over to CBI after Qumar’s brother filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court in May 2006.

But in October 2007, the Bureau was pulled up by the High Court for unsatisfactory investigations and the CBI sought more time.

And in September 2008 the Court denied the relief claimed in the writ petition for directions for taking action against the police officials who registered the FIR.

Meanwhile police maintains Qumar and Ali are terrorists. “We have concrete evidence linking the two with terrorist activities,” said Karnal Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police, Special Cell.

Additional Sessions Judge SK Gautam is likely to announce the verdict in the case on Monday.