Pak nationals languishes in prison for 8 years, waiting for the trial to start

By Neil Joshi
Mumbai
September 16, 2007

Two Pakistani nationals have been killing time within the four walls of the Arthur Road Prison for the past eight years for committing a robbery in 1999 at a bank in Borivali. Incidentally, the 2 accused could not apply for a bail since no one was ready to give a surety for their release.

Haji Iqbal and Rehan Ahmed hailing from Karachi and Punjab (Pakistan) respectively arrived in India in 1998 were accused of robbing the Maharashtra Co-operative Bank in Borivali in September 1999. Along with Iqbal and Ahmed, since the past 8 years the police are on a lookout for their two accomplices – Abdul Latif and Yousuf. The 4 accused had bought a house on rent in Sampai Nagar near Behram Baug in Jogeshwari. They had told the landlord – Mustaq Ahmed Azmi that they had come to India to conduct a plastic surgery on the foot of Iqbal since his two toes were cut in an accident and had been undergoing treatment.

The police had charged the landlord for abetting the robbery in which Rs. 7 lakhs were looted at gunpoint. The matter was transferred to the crime branch and alleged that the Pakistani nationals were in possession of AK 56 and other automatic weapons and had come to rob banks and other important institutions. In Mumbai, the Pakistani nationals were dealing in artificial jewellery and were very religious.

Haji Iqbal and Rehan Ahmed were arrested on December 12, 1999 and according to their lawyer, there was no recovery of money or arms. Along with booking them under the arms act and for robbery, the police had slapped an additional charge of robbery on them. It is alleged that they had robbed a car, which was later used as their escape vehicle.

Mustaq being an Indian national was granted bail after one year. However, his counterparts did not make any effort to seek bail since they knew no one in India and could not make arrangement of a surety. From the time they were languishing in prison, no communication was recorded between them and their family members. They have made several requests to the high commission but that request has fallen on deaf ears. They were taken to Delhi on several occasions but their visits went in vain. The other two accused – Latif and Yousuf have been termed absconding by the police.

Their defence lawyer Zia-Ul-Mustafa said that the maximum sentence for robbery is ten years. However, the court hasn’t filed the charges for the past eight years. “Every time when the court wants to file the charges, the police informs the court that they tracking the absconding accused. Even if the trial begin, it would take two years to complete the case and what if they are innocent,” said the Mustafa. The matter is been tried at the Sewri Sessions court before additional sessions judge SD Agrewal.