Bhatkal: Maulana Shabbir Gangawali, a resident of Karnataka's famous coastal town Bhatkal who was arrested and framed with terror charges eight years ago, has been acquitted and released from jail after a long wait of 8 years. Arrested for possessing a fake 500 rupee note, Moulana Shabbir Bhatkal was taken into custody from a Masjid in Pune where he used to be the Imam, the person who leads the prayers. He was framed for various terror cases and was transferred from one jail to another before finally being declared innocent on April 10, 2017.

How it all began

According to Mr. Anjum Inamdar, a social and political activist from Pune, Moulana Shabbir Bhatkal was taken into custody in the night of 30 November 2008 by the Mumbai ATS. However, he was first presented in court more than a month later, in January 2009. Surprising as it may sound, the allegation against him in that hearing was not terror charges but that he was found possessing a fake 500 rupee currency note. "It was soon after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Mumbai ATS wanted to show progress so they framed Maulana Shabbir" says Mr. Inamdar. This -according to sources- was followed by the Ullal police making a new allegation against him stating that he was distributing Jihadi literature in Ullal and that he was in contact with and Riyaz and Iqbal, a duo who are wanted by the intelligence officials in several terror cases. "No one believed that he was a terrorist. We all agreed that he was being framed like many others like him by the Mumbai ATS", Mr. Inamdar added. 

Mr. Arshad Balur, a lawyer with APCR (Association for Protection of Civil Rights) said that Moulana Shabbir was handed out a sentence of 5 years based on the testimony of a single officer. "Till then, he had already spent three and half a year in jail. We challenged the judgement and took it to the high court where the case is yet to be heard, however, due to his good behavior, his last 6 months were pardoned and he finished his sentence in Pune." he said.

As soon he finished his sentence for the Pune case, Moulana Shabbir was transferred to Bangalore jail as he was also named as the main accused in the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast case. However, his lawyers argued that he was in jail when the blast occurred after which the high court acquitted him of all charges. 

Before the arrest of Shabbir in 2008, several others were also arrested on the 3rd of October, 2008 in a joint raid by Mumbai ATC, Karnataka Anti Naxal Force and Dakshina Kannada District Police. The arrested included Faqeer Ahmed, Mohammed Rafeeq, Ahmed Bawa and Syed Mohammed. A father and son duo, Mohammed Ali and Javed Ali were also arrested on the same day. Of the arrested 7, 4 were released on bail. Shabbir, however, was denied bail after whicth his lawyers appealed in the Supreme Court for his bail and argued there was no evidence against him. The Supreme Court then directed the Karnataka High court and Mangalore District and Sessions Court to give a judgement within a year. 

On the direction of the Supreme Court, the process gathered speed and Shabbir, along with Mohammed Rafiq and the father son duo Javed and Mohammed Ali who were arrested 8 years ago, were found innocent and acquitted of all charges. Udupi's famous laywer Mr. Shantaram Shetty represented Shabbir. Three of the seven accused have been convicted. 

A wave of relief has washed the small town of Bhatkal and the city of Mangalore. 8 years ago, the arrest of Shabbir and several others was given prominence in the mainstream media who had smeared the town of Bhatkal as a hub of terror. "This is not new. We know that our youth are being targeted under false terror charges. Now it has been proved by the court. But I don't see any mainstream media covering this." A local lamented. 

Shabbir's mother -who at one time didn't even have enough money to visit her son in jail- was in tears when she heard the judgement. "I knew my son was innocent. I just can't wait for him to come home." she said, thanking APCR and other social activists who fought for her son. "Shabbir is my youngest child. He is 36 now and still unmarried." she added.