German Bakery blast case convict Mirza Himayat Baig, who had appeared unnerved during his conviction on Monday, burst in tears during the hearing on Thursday which decided the quantum of punishment.
“Seventeen people were killed when the bomb exploded at German Bakery on February 13, 2012. Now, I have turned out to be the 18th victim of the blast,” said Baig.
A clean shaven Baig wore a checkered yellowish shirt and slippers when he walked into the court around 11 am. Anxiety loomed large on his face as he sat in a corner along with the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) sleuths till the judge walked in and asked him to take a seat in the accused dock. At the start of the proceedings, the judge asked Baig if he wanted to say anything before the sentence is pronounced. “Main bol sakta hoon na (Can I speak?),” was his response and he started speaking in Hindi.
“Main Allah ko manta hoon. Mera koi lena dena nahi hain is case se. Main garib family se hoon. Aaj bhi meri family wahi karti hain jo pehle karti thi. Mera koi uddesh nahi tha kisiko mar ne ka. (I believe in the almighty. I do not have any connection in the case. I am from a poor family. My family has been doing the same work since several years. I had no intention to kill anyone),” he said.
According to him, several youths in his neighbourhood went underground after the Aurangabad arms haul case in 2006, but he didn’t.
“Main bhaga nahi. Main ghar main hi tha. Bahut sare nishpaap bacche pakde ja rahe the. Main isliye ghar main bhaitha tha. (I did not run anywhere. I was at my home. Many innocent youths were getting arrested. Hence I holed up in my house),” he said.
Then Baig pulled out a sheet of paper from his shirt’s pocket and started reading it, “Maza nyayvyavsasthe war purna vishwas ahe. 100 apradhi sutle tari chaltil pan ek nirapradala shiksha zali nahi pahije. Mi niraprad ahe. (I have total faith in our judiciary system. Let 100 guilty scot-free but not a single innocent should be punished.), and he broke in tears and pleaded for mercy.
Baig alleged that the state ATS has furnished fake evidence against him. “Mi kadhi RDX pahila nahi. Te fakta military kade asate. Mala mahit pan nahi te. (I have never seen RDX. Only the military has it I do not know anything about it),” he said.
He said that ATS chief Rakesh Maria, officers Vinod Satav and Dinesh Kadam have built false case against him. Baig said he wanted to become a teacher.
“The ATS has failed to arrest real culprits. Hence, they implicated me in the case. The truth will come out one day. Whatever the God has written will come to light one day,” said Baig.
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