Hyderabad: The reputation of Hyderabad’s police force received a major dent on Thursday, when a special court threw out its case and acquitted all ten accused in suicide blast case of October 2005.
The special court for communal disturbances delivered its verdict almost 12 years after a suspected member of the Harkatul Jihad Islami Bangladesh extremist group blew himself up in the Police Task Force office in Begumpet area of Hyderabad killing a security guard.
The blast in which the attacker was also killed, brought down a major portion of the office building.
The loss of life was minimal as all members of the Task Force were away on field duty.
During the subsequent probe, police claimed that the bomber was a Bangladesh national and arrested ten people.
Charges were filed against 12 suspects, two of whom were declared dead in two encounters.
Prosecutors told the court that of the two masterminds Abdul Shahid alias Bilal was killed in a shoot-out in Karachi where he was in hiding and the other Gulam Yazadani was killed in an encounter in Delhi.
The other ten accused charged with conspiracy and helping the bomber include Abdul Zahid, Abdul Kaleem, Shakeel, Syed Haji, Azmath Ali, Ajmal Ali Khan, Mahmood Baroodwala, Shaikh Abdul Khaja, Nafees Biswas lot West Bengal and Bilaluddin of Bangladesh.
Over the last twelve years the case saw many twists and turns and there was a two year long lull as the investigating office Assistant Commissioner of police M Diwakar had gone abroad.
The police produced the accused before the court on Thursday morning. The court acquitted all the ten accused, many of whom have spent seven to 11 years in jail, some in solitary confinement. The SIT has failed to produce sufficient evidence against the accused, the court remarked.
Police sources said that they may go in for appeal in the High Court.
