By Twocircles.net Staff Reporter
Delhi: If you think that the JNU case was an egg on the face of Delhi Police, what would you say if we tell you that a Special Judge in Delhi Court just discharged one of India’s most ‘wanted’ men in the fourth and final case filed against him by the Delhi Police? Discharged means that the court sought it unfit, based on the charge sheet filed by the Special Cell of the Delhi, to even proceed to trial against Tunda in the case. And this, against a man who was one of the 20 terrorists India had asked Pakistan to hand over after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
There have been many labels for Tunda, one worse than the other: he has been called the LeT’s Walking Encyclopaedia he has been called the Bomb Expert and a variety of names deemed fit for the most notorious criminals. And so it seems even today, with all headlines bearing “LeT bomber” in its headline, with ‘allegedly’ of course. But if one were to break down the whole process: from filing FIRs to the actual cases, the truth might be extremely different; and unpleasant for many.
MS Khan, the defence counsel, spoke to Twocircles at length over the most recent case. The earlier three cases—the Sadar Bazaar case, the Karol Bagh bombing, and the TADA case—all from the 90s, had already been quashed by the court. This now becomes the fourth and final case that Tunda has beaten before it reached even the trial. Delhi police had filed an FIR under the Explosives Act and for leading a terrorist conspiracy against India, but an additional sessions judge of Patiala House court noted that there was “no prima facie evidence against him to proceed to trial.”
But this is not the end: for the past 20 years or so, Tunda has been villanised to a point, where it is nearly impossible to even argue in his favour, and MS Khan experienced then when he took up Tunda’s cases after his arrest in 2013.
The only problem was that even Khan, his defence counsel, was initially unaware of how many cases had been lodged against Tunda. “I had to file a special request with the Delhi Police, who, after much deliberation, revealed that Tunda’s name appears in a total of 33 FIRs across the country, with about 21 of them filed by the Delhi Police,” he says. Of the 21 however, the Special Police was able to prepare a charge sheet in only four cases: all have now been dismissed.
But as is often the case with Muslims accused of terrorism, the word of the Police was taken as gospel never to be questioned. So, while India Today in 2013 told its readers about Tunda’s literary flair, another website One India offers a “one-stop destination” for all you want to know about Tunda. Except, maybe, explain if there is a chance that he is awaiting trial. But in what seems to be a growing trend, a Muslim accused is seen as a Muslim convicted, unless time proves otherwise.
Not that today’s court decision makes any tangible difference to Tunda. He still has cases pending in Sonepat Blasts and another case in Ghaziabad, and will continue to remain in judicial custody. Khan added that the evidence produced by the Special Cell was so weak that it is unlikely that they would file an appeal against the present order.
But given the number of FIRs against Tunda, it is extremely possible that he may never be a free man.
Irrespective of that, the fact that today, the court refused to even entertain the appeal for a trial of Tunda is a damning evidence of the difference between what Delhi Police says, and actually proves.
Remember, Tunda, if media is to be believed, is one of the biggest threats to this country’s security. Google “Abdul Karim Tunda arrested” and from videos to articles, almost all echo what the Delhi Police has to say. In this video from ABP News, the Special Commissioner of Special Cell, Delhi Police, SN Srivastava, said that “We have been told that he has association with Dawood. We are looking into the matter, and questioning is on”. Based on this, and of course, anonymous sources, the 9-minute video does a brilliant job in disguising all anonymous source-based information as ‘truth’. He had been arrested and awaited trial, but on television, his trial had been completed. He was friends with all the top terrorists: Dawood Ibrahim, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Hafiz Saeed, etc…There was nothing more to investigate.
Except the small matter of the legal processes that need to be followed. Which have now shown the truth, albeit something that will be, in all likelihood, ignored mostly by the Media?
India News went a bit further. It even reported, based on a source, of course, that Tunda has said ki “Jail se Nikla to fir Dhamaake Karunga”
What will happen to Tunda now? That remains to be seen. But the legal process has once again separated the myth from the truth. Not that it matters much in the present context.