Najiya O, TwoCircles.net
Kozhikode: After spending 16 years in jail as an under-trial, Kerala youth Zakariya is preparing to approach the Supreme Court with a bail application. From the age of 19 to 35, he has spent his formative years behind bars at the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru, accused in the 2008 Bengaluru blast case.
The Free Zakariya Action Forum, which consists of members from various political parties and social organizations in his hometown of Parappanangadi in Malappuram district, is currently working on his bail petition.
Spending more than 5,850 days in the largest jail in Karnataka, enduring the sweltering summers and bone-chilling winters, has left an indelible toll on his mental and physical health. The teenager who entered jail is now a 35-year-old man, afflicted by frequent headaches, varicose veins and rheumatism. He began wearing spectacles over time, and the uncertainty surrounding his future has only added to his mental strain.
Zakariya’s most cherished moments, in the past 16 years, were the seven days on parole that allowed him to step outside the high walls of the prison and reunite with his family — though the visits were always under tight security from both Kerala and Karnataka police. The first was in 2016, seven years after his arrest, for his brother Shareef’s wedding. Tragically, he returned home the following year for just two days — for his brother’s funeral. He was allowed another three-day parole in 2019 when his mother Beeyumma suffered a major stroke, leaving her partially paralysed.
“Back then, people were not as aware of cases like this as they are now. Even those who knew the family looked at them with suspicion. The family faced isolation, and this took a heavy toll on the mother. But things have changed now, and people are more aware of the truth,” said Shameer Koniyath, convener of the forum, which was formed five years after his arrest.
The ‘Abduction’ and Arrest
The Kerala Police had enquired about Zakariya just days before his arrest, claiming it was regarding his passport application. However, he had never applied for a passport. On February 5, 2009, he went to work as usual but did not return home. The family’s search for him yielded no results.
Four days later, Zakariya called his family and told them that he was in the custody of the Karnataka Police. He was allegedly picked up from Tirur, where he worked, and taken to Bengaluru without informing local authorities. He was reportedly presented before the magistrate only on February 9. Thus began the 19-year-old’s lengthy incarceration as an under-trial.
He is the eighth accused in the 2008 Bengaluru blasts, allegedly collaborating with the 12th accused, Sharafudheen, to build the timers and microchips used in the attack. However, two key witnesses presented by the Karnataka Police — Haridas and Nizamudheen — later turned hostile. While the former denied knowing or having seen Zakariya before, the latter revealed he was coerced into signing a document in Kannada, a language he did not understand. Nevertheless, the court upheld the police’s narrative.
A series of bomb blasts rocked Bengaluru on July 25, 2008, killing one person and injuring several others. That year, bombings were rampant across the country. Many Muslim youths were arrested, though most were later acquitted after enduring years of imprisonment.
Zakariya’s arrest, however, did not attract much media attention, as terror-related detentions were increasingly common at the time. The general atmosphere of suspicion isolated the family in their community. Zakariya’s story came to light when Abdul Naser Maudany, leader of Kerala’s People’s Democratic Party and a key accused in the Bengaluru blast case, revealed the former’s plight to visitors at the jail. It prompted the family to seek support and assistance from all possible quarters.
Pursuit to Prove Innocence
In March 2020, Zakariya’s mother, along with the Solidarity Youth Movement, filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA. The SC issued a notice to the central government, but the case was withdrawn in 2024, along with similar petitions. The apex court directed the petitioners to approach the respective High Courts first.
Zakariya, the youngest of his siblings, was only 10 when his father, Kunjahammed, passed away. Since then, his mother, had taken care of the family with the help of her brothers. He began studying bachelor’s in commerce after completing his higher secondary education but dropped out after a few months to pursue a course in electronics, seeking a quicker path to employment to support his family. He was still under 19 when he began working at a mobile phone shop in Kondotty and later moved to Tirur to make commuting easier.
“Zakariya remains in prison because he wants to prove his innocence,” said Shameer, who is also a relative. “He could have been released if he had lied and confessed to helping with the bomb blast,” wrote Hashir K in a Facebook post after meeting Zakariya for the first time when he was on parole to attend his brother’s funeral. Hashir also directed a docu-fiction about Zakariya titled ‘A Documentary about Disappearance’ in 2017.
“Seeing the same people every day and being surrounded by the same walls, Zakariya would open up about his sorrows whenever we visited,” said Shameer, who would try desperately to console him. He now urges mainstream political parties to take up Zakariya’s case, hoping this will lead to a swift resolution. Although the case has technically reached its final stages, the proceedings are still moving at a glacial pace.