By IANS
New Delhi : Jailed Pakistani national Mohammed Arif alias Ashfaq, whose death sentence was upheld Thursday by the Delhi High Court in the Red Fort terror attack case, has kept himself busy with religious books for the past six years.
“Ashfaq has always been a disciplined inmate and kept himself busy with reading books and volumes related to Islamic religion available in the jail library,” Tihar Jail spokesman Sunil Gupta told IANS.
“We have kept him (Ashfaq) in a high security cell after he was sentenced to death by a lower court Oct 31, 2005. We keep changing his location because of a possible terror attack in jail,” Gupta said.
Ashfaq and his Indian wife Rehmana Yusuf Farooqui, both alleged to be Lashker-e-Taiba militants, were arrested following an encounter in the Jamia Nagar area of south Delhi four days after they allegedly attacked the historic Red Fort along with other accomplices Dec 22, 2000.
Two guards – Abdullah Thakur and Uma Shankar – of the 7th Battallion of Rajputana Rifles and a civilian, Ashok Kumar, were killed in the attack.
C.R. Garg, deputy inspector general (Prison), said Ashfaq had never troubled the jail authorities.
“He never makes illegal demands. He spends most of his time in jail work and reading religious books. We have also kept him apart from other prisoners for security reasons,” Garg said.
“Ashfaq is served only vegetarian food in jail and we have also noticed him praying several times a day,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court upheld Ashfaq’s death sentence while acquitting six others in the Red Fort terror attack.
A division bench headed by Justice R.S. Sodhi held Ashfaq guilty of waging war against the state. The court acquitted Sadakat Ali, Rehmana Yusuf Farooqui, Matloob Alam, Farooq Ahmed Qasid, Babar Moshin Baghwala and Nazir Ahmed Qasid – who had been convicted by the subordinate court – for lack of evidence.
After a long trial, the high court had reserved its verdict on May 4.
The subordinate court had awarded capital punishment to Ashfaq for waging war against the state and for murder. A fine of Rs.435,000 was also slapped on him. His wife, Rehmana, was also convicted for conspiracy and awarded a life term. But she has been acquitted now.
On Oct 31, 2005, the lower court awarded life imprisonment to two accused from Jammu and Kashmir – Nazir Ahmed Qasid and his son Farooq Ahmed Qasid. They too were found guilty of waging war against the state and criminal conspiracy.
Two other accused – Baghwala and Alam – were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment for their complicity in the attack.
“We will definitely be moving to Supreme Court regarding the acquittal of six of the accused,” a Delhi Police official said.
It was from the Red Fort that the flag of independent India was unfurled by the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the ritual has been followed every year Aug 15 followed by an address to the nation from its ramparts by the prime minister.