The Hindu : New Delhi News : JNU students rally behind Aftab Ansari

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Sunday, Feb 17, 2008
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JNU students rally behind Aftab Ansari

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Rallying behind Aftab Alam Ansari, who was “wrongly accused” of involvement in serial bomb blasts in the court premises in Uttar Pradesh this past year, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union has demanded compensation from the authorities for implicating him in a false case.

The JNUSU invited Aftab, an employee of Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), and his lawyer Mohammed Shoaib to address a press conference in the Capital over the weekend.

In a case of “mistaken identity”, Aftab was arrested by the CID in Kolkata and handed over to a Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh police as the “chief accused” in the court blasts case in that State.

He narrated how he was tortured by the police for 22 days in order to make him confess that he was Mukhtar alias Raju.

Later, due to the efforts of his mother, his lawyer, some journalists and the People’s Union for Human Rights (PUHR), he was declared innocent by a court and set free.

“I was labelled a militant of terrorist outfit Harkat Ul-Jehadi Islam. They beat me up. They tried to make me confess that I was Mukhtar and that I was a resident of Malda district in West Bengal. Had it not been for my mother who ran from pillar to post, I would not have been free,” said Aftab as he broke down recounting his experience.

Demanding compensation for the suffering and mental torture endured by Aftab, JNUSU president Sandeep Singh said those responsible for his “illegal detention” should be brought to book and action should be taken against them.

The convenor of the Forum for Democratic Initiatives, Radhika Menon, demanded that draconian laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act be withdrawn as they allow people to be picked up randomly and harassed thereafter.

Aftab claimed that he met the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, recently and requested him for a compensation of Rs.80,000.

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