After the verdict, tears and fears for relatives
Ataur Rehman Shaikh reached the sessions court premises a good hour before the 7/11 accused were to be produced. Dressed in a striped white shirt and deep blue trousers, he had offered his prayers and was full of hope.
When Mirror caught up with him in the morning before the court was called into session, he said: “We are hopeful that they will come out clean.”
His two sons -- Mohd Faisal Shaikh (36) and Muzzammil Shaikh (27) are accused in the 2006 train blasts case. His third son, Rahil Shaikh, is also an accused and has been declared a proclaimed absconder. After retirement, Shaikh has kept the home fires burning through calligraphy in English and Urdu.
Minutes later when the Special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) convicted 12 of the 13 accused, Shaikh was crestfallen. “Let’s wait for the judgement, but we are definitely going in appeal,” he said as his eyes welled up.
Shaikh, like other relatives of the accused who had turned up in court, were heart-broken on Friday as news about the conviction trickled in. Comprising mostly of burqa-clad women, a few of them could not hold back their tears.
While some relatives of the convicted resolved to go in appeal, other maintained that their loved ones were innocent. Among the latter was Dr Tanvir Ansari’s wife.
Tanvir was accused by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of “coordinating the blasts from a public call office near a hospital in Nagpada.” His wife said that her husband was not guilty and “should be released” before her voice choked.
The only family member -- out of about 20 present in the campus – of the accused who was partially pleased with the verdict was the brother–in–law (refused to disclose his name owing to ‘consequences’) of the sole acquitted accused Abdul Wahid Shaikh. “Partially” because while Wahid was acquitted, his own younger brother, Sajid Ansari, was convicted. Sajid is also the brother–in–law of Wahid.
“We were confident about Wahid, but for Sajid we thought he had a 50:50 chance. The police have wasted nine years of a person against whom they had absolutely no evidence. I don’t understand why he wasn’t granted bail. Who will compensate him now,” he asked.
It was by a thumbs–up sign flashed by Abdul Wahid Shaikh from about 25 feet distance that declared to everyone present on campus that he had been acquitted. None of the relatives were allowed to go near the accused or the court as the entire portion of the floor was off limits – including for the media.
There was anger against the media as well. While Shaikh blamed the media for buying the ATS’s theories completely, Wahid’s wife – also convict Sajid Ansari’s sister – lashed out: “Where was the media for the last nine years? You never came to ask us and accused us wrongly in the blast case.”
“We are a joint family. We met each other every day. We knew details about his (Sajid Ansari’s) daily movements. So how can they say he was involved? They said he was involved in the making of the bomb, but his call records show that he was nowhere near those locations on the days mentioned by the ATS,” said Sajid’s brother.
When Mirror caught up with him in the morning before the court was called into session, he said: “We are hopeful that they will come out clean.”
His two sons -- Mohd Faisal Shaikh (36) and Muzzammil Shaikh (27) are accused in the 2006 train blasts case. His third son, Rahil Shaikh, is also an accused and has been declared a proclaimed absconder. After retirement, Shaikh has kept the home fires burning through calligraphy in English and Urdu.
“We can only pray to god and can’t complain why this happened to us,” he said as he tried escorted his wife before the verdict was to be announced.
Minutes later when the Special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) convicted 12 of the 13 accused, Shaikh was crestfallen. “Let’s wait for the judgement, but we are definitely going in appeal,” he said as his eyes welled up.
Shaikh, like other relatives of the accused who had turned up in court, were heart-broken on Friday as news about the conviction trickled in. Comprising mostly of burqa-clad women, a few of them could not hold back their tears.
While some relatives of the convicted resolved to go in appeal, other maintained that their loved ones were innocent. Among the latter was Dr Tanvir Ansari’s wife.
Tanvir was accused by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of “coordinating the blasts from a public call office near a hospital in Nagpada.” His wife said that her husband was not guilty and “should be released” before her voice choked.
The only family member -- out of about 20 present in the campus – of the accused who was partially pleased with the verdict was the brother–in–law (refused to disclose his name owing to ‘consequences’) of the sole acquitted accused Abdul Wahid Shaikh. “Partially” because while Wahid was acquitted, his own younger brother, Sajid Ansari, was convicted. Sajid is also the brother–in–law of Wahid.
“We were confident about Wahid, but for Sajid we thought he had a 50:50 chance. The police have wasted nine years of a person against whom they had absolutely no evidence. I don’t understand why he wasn’t granted bail. Who will compensate him now,” he asked.
It was by a thumbs–up sign flashed by Abdul Wahid Shaikh from about 25 feet distance that declared to everyone present on campus that he had been acquitted. None of the relatives were allowed to go near the accused or the court as the entire portion of the floor was off limits – including for the media.
There was anger against the media as well. While Shaikh blamed the media for buying the ATS’s theories completely, Wahid’s wife – also convict Sajid Ansari’s sister – lashed out: “Where was the media for the last nine years? You never came to ask us and accused us wrongly in the blast case.”
“We are a joint family. We met each other every day. We knew details about his (Sajid Ansari’s) daily movements. So how can they say he was involved? They said he was involved in the making of the bomb, but his call records show that he was nowhere near those locations on the days mentioned by the ATS,” said Sajid’s brother.
