ibn sultan
Srinagar, March 20: A Delhi court has acquitted two Kashmiri men who had been facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Arms Act for alleged links with the banned terrorist organisation ISIS, bringing to an end a legal battle that lasted over seven years.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Bansal of the Patiala House Courts cleared Jamsheed Zahoor Paul and Parvaiz Rashid Lone, both residents of Shopian, stating that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt.
In a detailed 79-page judgment, the court pointed out several inconsistencies and procedural lapses in the investigation, raising serious doubts about the credibility of the police version. The court questioned how the FIR number appeared on seizure documents without clarity on whether the FIR had been registered before or after the alleged recovery of weapons.
The case originated from a September 6, 2018 operation by the Delhi Police Special Cell, which had claimed that the accused had pledged allegiance to ISIS and had travelled to Delhi to procure firearms. Police alleged that the two men were arrested near Jama Masjid bus stop on Netaji Subhash Marg and were found carrying two pistols and live cartridges.
However, the court noted that no independent witnesses were included during the arrest and seizure despite the operation taking place in a crowded public area. This omission, the court said, created strong doubts about the prosecution’s version of events.
Serious concerns were also raised over the handling of electronic evidence. Four mobile phones seized from the accused remained unsealed in police custody for nearly two months before being sent for forensic examination, leading the court to observe that the possibility of tampering could not be ruled out.
As a result, the court refused to rely on alleged chat records and screenshots that were presented as evidence of communication with suspected ISIS handlers. The prosecution had claimed that the accused were in contact with operatives and had received funds to procure arms, but the court found no material evidence to substantiate these allegations.
After examining 23 witnesses during the trial, the court concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove that the accused were members of ISIS, had conspired to commit terrorist acts, or had procured weapons in furtherance of such a conspiracy.
With this ruling, both men have been acquitted of all charges, closing a case that had kept them in custody since their arrest in 2018.
