New Delhi: The NHRC Monday issued notice to the home ministry and Delhi Police over the alleged false arrest of a Delhi youth accused of being involved in terrorist activities.
Citing a media report, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said Mohammad Amir was arrested in February 1998 from Old Delhi area. He was 18 years old at the time of his arrest. Amir was released from prison after 14 years in January 2012.
“The wrongful arrest destroyed his youth. While he was confined to solitary confinement in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, his father passed away in penury and the social boycott caused his mother a brain stroke resulting in paralysis,” the NHRC said.
“The issue raises serious questions on the functioning of police and if true, the contents of the press report amount to grave violation of human rights of the victim, implicated in false cases,” it added.
Taking suo motu action, NHRC member D. Murugesan issued notice to the home ministry secretary and Delhi Police commissioner asking them to submit detailed reports within four weeks.
The police commissioner was also directed to submit the entire record of the 12 cases filed against the victim.
Police claimed that Amir was involved with some Pakistanis in the bomb blasts and had received training from them. However, the NHRC said the blasts had taken place before the accused went to Pakistan.
Amir left his home near Azad Market in Old Delhi for Pakistan Dec 12, 1997 to visit his sister and returned Feb 13, 1998. A fortnight later, he was arrested after being named the main accused in 20 bomb blasts between December 1996 and October 1997 in and around Delhi, the NHRC said.
“The last of the bomb blasts was in October 1997, two months before he went on his first and last trip to Pakistan,” it added.