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NHRC team may probe Vadodara arrests

After the arrests, the city police had claimed that it had recovered country-made rocket launchers, bombs and explosives from the youths.

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National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is likely to send a team to the city to probe the arrests, and alleged torture, of five youths on the charges of planning to bomb visarjan yatra (immersion procession) of Ganesh Puja early this month, by the local police. 

This was stated at a media briefing in New Delhi, organised by social activist Shabnam Hashmi and her associates. After the arrests, the city police had claimed that it had recovered country-made rocket launchers, bombs and explosives from the youths.

The family members of the arrested accused have demanded independent investigations by the NHRC and National Minorities Commission. They have alleged that the youths were illegally detained and forced to confess their involvement in the case. 

Shabnam Hashmi told DNA that the NHRC has agreed to send a team to Gujarat soon to investigate the matter. According to sources, the team is expected to come to Vadodara within a week.

The Vadodara police had announced to have seized desi rocket launchers, sutli bombs and explosives from Hathikhana on September 7. The arrests were said to have been made on the basis of information received in course of investigations into a case of bomb explosion that had taken place at Hathikhana on October 8 last year.

The police claimed that one Zahir Abbas Amruddin Sheikh was picked up by them in connection with the bomb explosion. During interrogation, the police got clues about arms and ammunition. Further investigations revealed the involvement of Usmangani alias Nawab Abdul Gaffar Ansari, Amin Razzak Shah, Iqbal alias Ikku Majidbhai Shaikh and Mustaq Ismail Shaikh in the plan to bomb the visarjan yatra.

The police arrested them and took them on 12-day judicial remand for detailed investigations. Currently, the youths are in judicial custody. According to a release by the NGO, Anhad, a team comprising of social activist Shabnam Hashmi, Harsh Mander, Rahul Rastrapal and others met the family members of the accused, who claimed that the youths had no criminal record.

They were allegedly picked up by people in civvies, sometimes using force and sometimes under false pretext. They were taken blindfold to a farm and subjected to torture. The family members said they were not informed about the whereabouts of the youths. They searched for the youths in various police stations and hospitals.

Then, a local leader took a delegation to the ACP, Rakesh Sharma. It was then that they were told that the youths were safe and in police custody, though even then it was not divulged where they had been kept or why they were picked up.

According to the families of the youths, in late evening the same day, some parents were asked to meet their sons at the police station. They saw them from a distance and were not allowed to talk to them. It was visible from their appearance that they were badly tortured; some of them could not even walk on their own. The police took them on varying periods of police remand, followed by judicial custody.

While the youths were allegedly threatened with dire consequences if they told the judge about torture, the families were asked not to contact anyone; else, more cases would be slapped on the youths.

When Rahul Rashtrapal, Dushyantbhai, Sachin Pandya and Shabnam Hashmi went to the Vadodara jail and met two of the youths, Zaheer and Iqbal, on September 25, the two narrated in detail how they were tortured. 
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