Sabarmati Express Blast: Former Research Scholar Acquitted After 16 Years

New Delhi: A former Aligarh Muslim University scholar and uspected Hizbul Mujahideen operative Gulzar Ahmed Wani was given a clean chit on Saturday by a Barabanki court in Sabarmati Express train blast case in 2000.

The blast was carried out on the eve of Independence Day when the train was on its way from Muzaffarpur to Ahmedabad, claiming nine lives. According to the counsel for the accused, the court freed Wani and co-accused Mobin due to lack of evidence.

The Supreme Court on April 27 said that it was shame on part of the police to insist on judicial custody of an accused in the Sabarmati Express bomb blast, languishing in an UP jail for 16 years without bail.

"The court of Additional Sessions Judge M A Khan acquitted both the accused of all the charges as the prosecution could not establish any of the charges levelled against them," advocate MS Khan said.

Wani was arrested by Delhi Police in 2001 allegedly with explosives and incriminating materials. He is a resident of Peeparkari area of Srinagar and is currently lodged in a jail in Lucknow.